Novel architecture to facilitate disassembly and reuse of electronic components and sub-assemblies

This paper advances the proposition that in many electronic products, the partitioning scheme adopted and the interconnection system used to interconnect the sub-assemblies or components are intimately related to the economic benefits, and hence the attractiveness, of reuse of these items. An architecture has been developed in which the residual values of the connectors, components and sub-assemblies are maximized, and opportunities for take-back and reuse of redundant items are greatly enhanced. The system described also offers significant manufacturing cost benefits in terms of ease of assembly, compactness and robustness.

Environmental and social impact monitoring of the Bujagali Hydropower Project (BHPP), Uganda Fisheries Component: monthly patterns in physico-chemical conditions and fish catch in the immediate vicinity of the Bujagali Hydropower construction site, 29th September - 28th October 2007

Following the commencement of construction works of a 250 MW hydropower plant at Dumbbell Island in the Upper Victoria Nile in September 2007, BEL requested NaFIRRI to conduct continuous monitoring of fish catches at two transects i.e. the immediate upstream transect of the project site (Kalange-Makwanzi) and the immediate downstream .transect (Buyala-Kikubamutwe). The routine monitoring surveys were designed to be conducted twice a week at each of the tWo transects. It was anticipated that major immediate impacts were to occur during construction, and these needed to be known by BEL as part of a mitigation strategy. For example, the construction of it cofferdam could be accompanied by rapid changes in water quality and quantity downstream of the construction. These changes in turn could affect the fish catch and would probably be missed by the quarterly monitoring already in place. Therefore, a major cbjective of the more regular and rapid monitoring was to discern immediate impacts of construction activities by focusing on selected water quality parameters (total suspended solids, water conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH) and fish catch characteristics (total catch, catch rates and value of the catch)

Fisheries research component implementation status 1997 -2001 and workplans 2001-2003

The report covers the status of: the economic and ecological values of Lake Victoria; priority issues; the vision of the Fisheries Research Component; the objectives of the Fisheries Research Component under LVEMP to generate, package and disseminate scientific knowledge and build capacity.

Multi-objective foundation optimization and its application to pile reuse

Pile reuse has become an increasingly popular option in foundation design, mainly due to its potential cost and environmental benefits and the problem of underground congestion in urban areas. However, key geotechnical concerns remain regarding the behavior of reused piles and the modeling of foundation systems involving old and new piles to support building loads of the new structure. In this paper, a design and analysis tool for pile reuse projects will be introduced. The tool allows coupling of superstructure stiffness with the foundation model, and includes an optimization algorithm to obtain the best configuration of new piles to work alongside reused piles. Under the concept of Pareto Optimality, multi-objective optimization analyses can also reveal the relationship between material usage and the corresponding foundation performance, providing a series of reuse options at various foundation costs. The components of this analysis tool will be discussed and illustrated through a case history in London, where 110 existing piles are reused at a site to support the proposed new development. The case history reveals the difficulties faced by foundation reuse in urban areas and demonstrates the application of the design tool to tackle these challenges. © ASCE 2011.

Water soluble nitrogenous component from squilla (Orato squilla nepa)

A water soluble hygroscopic powder has been isolated from squilla in good yield, ranging from 3.5 to 5.0% of the fresh raw material, by a simple direct method. The process consists of homogenising squilla with an equal quantity of water, removal of chitinous matter from the slurry by filtration, heating the filtrate at 0.7 kg/sq.cm steam pressure for 15-20 minutes, removal of the precipitated protein by filtration and concentration and final drying in vacuum of the filtered cooled liquor. The pale brown powder so obtained consists mainly of peptones and proteoses and has been found to be comparable to BDH peptone for growth of bacteria, ability to serve as source for tryptophan for indole production and to provide substrate for the production of hydrogen sulphide. Comparative studies have been made on similar water soluble fractions from two species of prawns, namely, Metapenaeus affinis and Parapenaeopsis stylifera.

Characterization of TRPC2, an Essential Genetic Component of VNS Chemoreception, Provides Insights into the Evolution of Pheromonal Olfaction in Secondary-Adapted Marine Mammals

Pheromones are chemical cues released and sensed by individuals of the same species, which are of major importance in regulating reproductive and social behaviors of mammals. Generally, they are detected by the vomeronasal system (VNS). Here, we first investigated and compared an essential genetic component of vomeronasal chemoreception, that is, TRPC2 gene, of four marine mammals varying the degree of aquatic specialization and related terrestrial species in order to provide insights into the evolution of pheromonal olfaction in the mammalian transition from land to water. Our results based on sequence characterizations and evolutionary analyses, for the first time, show the evidence for the ancestral impairment of vomeronasal pheromone signal transduction pathway in fully aquatic cetaceans, supporting a reduced or absent dependence on olfaction as a result of the complete adaptation to the marine habitat, whereas the amphibious California sea lion was found to have a putatively functional TRPC2 gene, which is still under strong selective pressures, reflecting the reliance of terrestrial environment on chemical recognition among the semiadapted marine mammals. Interestingly, our study found that, unlike that of the California sea lion, TRPC2 genes of the harbor seal and the river otter, both of which are also semiaquatic, are pseudogenes. Our data suggest that other unknown selective pressures or sensory modalities might have promoted the independent absence of a functional VNS in these two species. In this respect, the evolution of pheromonal olfaction in marine mammals appears to be more complex and confusing than has been previously thought. Our study makes a useful contribution to the current understanding of the evolution of pheromone perception of mammals in response to selective pressures from an aquatic environment.