ESTIMATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH TRAFFIC FACILITIES USING QUESTIONNAIRES FROM RESIDENTS

ABSTRACT The purpose of tins study is to estimate the multiattribute utility function which is needed in measure environmental costs associated with traffic facilities, and also to examine the reliability of the methodology based on residents preferences in hypothetical situations. An additive utility function which consists of household income and environmental factors is assumed, and its parameters arc estimated using a two-step procedure based on surveys of residents. As a result, it is shown that the parameters of the utility function differ with respect to household characteristics, and that the parameters estimated from different sets of preferential judgment questions do vary.     

Viscosities of molten alkali-metal bromides and iodides

Viscosities of molten alkali-metal bromides and iodides, whose reported values are scattered, have been measured by the use of a capillary viscometer made of quartz which is newly designed to obtain a high precision. The viscometer consists of the quartz capillary with a funnel of the suspended level type, and the melt is sealed in it under vacuum. The total error in the measurement is estimated to be within 0.7% at high temperatures. Viscosities of all the alkalimetal bromides and iodides show similar values at a constant temperature. Viscous flow behaviors of all the alkali-metal halides are discussed based on the activation energy and the hard sphere model. The apparent activation energy increases with an increase in the melting temperature of the salt. The viscosity of the alkali-metal halide melt at the melting temperature increases as the ratio of hard sphere volume to hole volume calculated from the surface tension.     

Salt effect on the conformation of an alternating copolymer of l-leucine and l-lysine

The ‘statistical’ copoly(l-leucyl-l-lysine) is shown to undergo a coil to α-helix transition by either adding salt or raising the pH. However, the corresponding alternating copolymer undergoes a conformational transition from a coil to a b-structure, which is accomplished by adding various salts or by raising the pH. The b-structure fraction of the alternating copoly(l-leucyl—l-lysine) is especially enhanced by either water structure, breaking or making anion (e.g., ClO^?₄ or SO^2?₄), in which the β-structure may be induced by a different molecular mechanism. As a consequence of the strong shielding effect due to the specific binding of ClO^?₄ with charged side chain as well as its electrochemical monovalency, an intramolecular cross-β-structure is formed at lower salt concentration (e.g., 0.10 moll^?1). However, in the presence of SO^2?₄, due to its divalency, intermolecular β-pleated sheet structure occurs even at very low salt concentration (e.g., 0.002 moll^?1). Furthermore, in both cases the resulting β-structure is stable up to 90°C.     

Monitoring of the multiple bacteriocin production by Enterococcus faecium NKR-5-3 through a developed liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry-based quantification system

Enterococcus faecium NKR-5-3 produces four antimicrobial peptides referred here as enterocins NKR-5-3A, B, C and D. A two-step electrospray ionization-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (ESI-LC/MS)-based quantification system was developed to monitor its multiple bacteriocin production profiles, which is essential in understanding the complex production regulation mechanism of strain NKR-5-3. The developed ESI-LC/MS-based quantification system can easily monitor the multiple bacteriocin production of this strain. Using the developed system, the production of enterocin NKR-5-3B was found to be not as variable as those of the other enterocins in different cultivation media. Production of enterocin NKR-5-3B was also found to have a wider optimum incubation temperature (20-30°C) than enterocins NKR-5-3A, C and D (25°C). Furthermore, at least 2?nM of the bacteriocin-like inducing peptide, enterocin NKR-5-3D, regulated the production of NKR-5-3 enterocins except enterocin NKR-5-3B. These findings taken together suggest that enterocin NKR-5-3B has an independent production regulation mechanism from the other NKR-5-3 enterocins. The developed system could effectively pin-point the production profiles of the multiple bacteriocins of E.?faecium NKR-5-3 under different fermentation conditions.     

Efficient intraliposomal entrapment of hydrophilic platinum oligonuclear complexes

A simple method for intraliposomal entrapment of platinum complexes is presented, where hydrophilic platinum oligonuclear complexes, 1-methyluracil green (MeUG), uridine green (UdG) and uridine blue (UdB), are included inside liposomes and allowed to react with bilayer lipids. The liposomes prepared in this method exhibit higher entrapment efficiency and higher distribution to organs (liver, kidney, spleen, lung) and blood (but not B16 cancer cells) than those prepared from mononuclear Pt complexes [cis-diamminedichloroplatinum, cis-diammine-1,1′-dicarboxylatocyclobutaneplatinum, and cis-dichloro-cis-dihydroxy-trans-bis(isopropylamine)platinum)].     

CT diagnosis of pleural dissemination without pleural effusion in primary lung cancer

We retrospectively reviewed the CT scans of 25 primary lung cancers with disseminated pleural nodules or minimal malignant pleural effusions that were not recognized preoperatively. Special attention was devoted to abutting interlobar fissures, thick major fissures, and disseminated nodules on the chest wall, the diaphragm, and in the interlobar fissures. Among 10 primary tumors abutting interlobar fissures, nine (90%) had at least one of these findings. Among 15 primary lung tumors which did not abut interlobar fissures, four (27%) had at least one of these findings. We conclude that CT is a useful modality for detecting the pleural dissemination of primary lung cancers when primary lung cancers abut interlobar fissures even if no pleural effusion is detectable on CT.