Resource savings by urban mining : the case of desktop and laptop computers in Belgium

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has become increasingly important over the last years. Additionally, the European Union recognizes the growing importance of raw materials, and the crucial role of recycling. In this study the performance of WEEE recycling was assessed for the case of desktop and laptop computers in Belgium in 2013. The analysis was performed in four steps. First, the recycling chain is analyzed through material flow analysis (MFA) at the level of specific materials. Second, an indicator is calculated, which quantifies the effectively recycled weight ratios of the specific materials. Third, a second indicator expresses the recycling efficiency of so-called critical raw materials. Finally, the natural resource consumption of the recycling scheme in a life cycle perspective is calculated using the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE) method, and is benchmarked with a landfill scenario. Overall, the results show that base metals such as ferrous metals, aluminium and copper are recycled to a large extent, but that for precious metals improvements still can be made. The input of criticality (arising from the incoming mass, as well as the individual criticality value of the assessed material) mainly comes from base metals, resulting in a high recovery performance of raw materials criticality. Finally, the natural resource consumption of the recycling scenario is much smaller than in case of landfilling the WEEE: 80 and 87% less resource consumption is achieved for desktops and laptops respectively, hence saving significant primary raw materials

Mortality related to caesarean section in rural Matebeleland North Province, Zimbabwe

A CAJM article on Cesarean birth related death in rural Zimbabwe.Maternal mortality ratio in low income countries is 100-500 times higher than in rich countries; compare the extremes: Zimbabwe with 1100 maternal deaths/100 000 live births and Sweden with 2/100 000.' Mortality rates related to caesarean section (CS) are in the same range, 0.5-2% (1:2001:50) in poor income countries and 0.01-0.02% (1:10 000-1:5 000)2 in the richer parts of the world. Mortality is greater in women who have more than one CS compared to those with a first CS, because of increasing age and therefore hi gher prevalence of general medical conditions, as well higher incidence of complications such as ruptured uterus (risk 0.2-1.5% after low transverse incision) and placenta praevia or accreta (risks 1.1-3.0 and 5-10 times greater than in an unscarred uterus).2 Compared to vaginal birth maternal mortality related to CS was shown to be 17 times higher in a medical audit in Midlands province in Zimbabwe

Screening methods for age-related hearing loss in older patients with cancer: A review of the literature

© 2018 by the authors. As people grow older, they may experience loss in hearing sensitivity. Age-related hearing loss may negatively affect the patient's quality of life as it may lead to social isolation. In older patients with cancer, hearing loss can seriously interfere with the patient's ability to deal properly with all aspects of their disease, and may have a cumulative effect on their already decreased quality of life. Therefore, the proper screening of those conditions is essential in order to optimise the patient's comfort during and after treatment. This review article aims at providing a concise image of the nature of age-related hearing loss, and provides an overview of the screening methods that could be used in older patients with cancer

ANALISIS RESIKO BENCANA LONGSOR DI KOTA BITUNG

Risiko bencana adalah potensi kerugian yang ditimbulkan akibat bencana pada suatu kawasan dan kurun waktu tertentu yang dapat berupa kematian, luka, sakit, jiwa terancam, hilangnya rasa aman, mengungsi, kerusakan atau kehilangan harta, dan gangguan kegiatan masyarakat. Penelitian ini dilakukan di Kota Bitung untuk mengetahui tingkat kerawanan. Kerentanan Kapasitas dan Resiko Bencana berdasarkan Peraturan Kepala Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana No.02 Tahun 2012 tentang Pedoman Umum Pengkajian Risiko Bencana. Metode yang di gunakan adalah metode analisis deskriptif dan overlay, dimana untuk mendapat resiko bencana perlu melakukan penggabungan pada berbagai peta dasar yaitu kemiringan lereng, jenis tanah, curah hujan dan penggunaan lahan untuk mendapatkan tingkat kerawanan serta tingkat kerentanan yang di dapat dari kerentanan social, ekonomi, fisik dan lingkungan. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa Kota Bitung masuk kedalam kategori resiko bencana sedang, dimana seluruh wilayah permukiman yang ada di Kota Bitung masih masuk kategori layak untuk pembangunan.Kata Kunci: Kerawanan Bencana, Resiko Bencana, Kota Bitun

BNIP3 supports melanoma cell migration and vasculogenic mimicry by orchestrating the actin cytoskeleton

BNIP3 is an atypical BH3-only member of the BCL-2 family of proteins with reported pro-death as well as pro-autophagic and cytoprotective functions, depending on the type of stress and cellular context. In line with this, the role of BNIP3 in cancer is highly controversial and increased BNIP3 levels in cancer patients have been linked with both good as well as poor prognosis. In this study, using small hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentiviral transduction to stably knockdown BNIP3 (BNIP3-shRNA) expression levels in melanoma cells, we show that BNIP3 supports cancer cell survival and long-term clonogenic growth. Although BNIP3-shRNA increased mitochondrial mass and baseline levels of reactive oxygen species production, which are features associated with aggressive cancer cell behavior, it also prevented cell migration and completely abolished the ability to form a tubular-like network on matrigel, a hallmark of vasculogenic mimicry (VM). We found that this attenuated aggressive behavior of these melanoma cells was underscored by severe changes in cell morphology and remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton associated with loss of BNIP3. Indeed, BNIP3-silenced melanoma cells displayed enhanced formation of actin stress fibers and membrane ruffles, while lamellopodial protrusions and filopodia, tight junctions and adherens junctions were reduced. Moreover, loss of BNIP3 resulted in re-organization of focal adhesion sites associated with increased levels of phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase. Remarkably, BNIP3 silencing led to a drop of the protein levels of the integrin-associated protein CD47 and its downstream signaling effectors Rac1 and Cdc42. These observations underscore that BNIP3 is required to maintain steady-state levels of intracellular complexes orchestrating the plasticity of the actin cytoskeleton, which is integral to cell migration and other vital processes stimulating cancer progression. All together these results unveil an unprecedented pro-tumorigenic role of BNIP3 driving melanoma cell's aggressive features, like migration and VM

Synthesis of sago starch laurate in densified carbon dioxide

Fatty acid starch esters are potential candidates for novel biodegradable plastics. This work describes a systematic study on the synthesis of starch laurate using sago starch and vinyl laurate (VL) in densified CO2 as a green solvent. The phase behavior of the CO2-VL system was investigated in a high pressure view cell and the critical point of the CO2-VL mixtures was shown to increase with temperature. Within the experimental window, sago starch laurate with a maximum degree of substitution (DS) of 0.97 is obtained. To the best of our knowledge, such high DS values have never been reported before for reactions in densified CO2. Moreover, the presence of laurate chains in the starch backbone has a profound influence on the degree of crystallinity, the melt and crystallization temperature, and the degradation temperature of the final products. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 58:291-299, 2018. (c) 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers</p

Pharmacokinetic interactions between simeprevir and ledipasvir in treatment naive hepatitis C virus genotype 1-Infected patients without cirrhosis treated with a simeprevir-sofosbuvir-ledipasvir regimen

Interactions between simeprevir (hepatitis C virus [HCV] NS3/4A protease inhibitor) and ledipasvir (HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitor) were investigated in treatment-naive HCV genotype 1-infected patients without cirrhosis, treated with simeprevir-sofosbuvir-ledipasvir in a two-panel, phase 2, open-label study. Patients had stable background treatment with sofosbuvir (400 mg once daily [QD]). In panel 1 (n = 20), the effect of ledipasvir (90 mg QD) on simeprevir (150 mg QD) was studied. Patients received simeprevir and sofosbuvir from days 1 to 14; steady-state pharmacokinetics (PK) of simeprevir was assessed (day 14). On day 15, ledipasvir was added and steady-state PK of simeprevir in the combination was evaluated (day 28). In panel 2 (n = 20), the effect of simeprevir on ledipasvir was investigated. From days 1 to 14, patients received ledipasvir and sofosbuvir and steady-state PK of ledipasvir was assessed (day 14). On day 15, simeprevir was added and a full PK profile was obtained (day 28). The least-squares mean maximum plasma concentration and area under the concentration-time curve (90% confidence interval) increased 2.3-fold (2.0- to 2.8-fold) and 3.1-fold (2.4- to 3.8-fold) for simeprevir, respectively (panel 1), and 1.6-fold (1.4- to 1.9-fold) and 1.7-fold (1.6- to 2.0-fold) for ledipasvir, respectively (panel 2), in the presence versus the absence of the other drug. All patients achieved sustained virologic responses 12 weeks after treatment end. Adverse events, mainly grade 1/2, occurred in 80% of patients; the most common was photosensitivity (45%). Due to the magnitude of interaction and the limited amount of safety data available, the use of this treatment combination is not recommended