Mathematical methods for use in planning regional wastewater treatment systems

A mathematical method presented here deals with regionalization of wastewater systems, a complex public sector planning problem. The method proposed focuses on generating alternative physical plans efficiently and systematically so that planning issues other than economic efficiency may be meaningfully integrated into the process of comparing alternative plans. Such a method, although simple in concept, can aid analysts in developing insights. Two types of alternative plans can be generated by the method, single-time period plans and simplified multiperiod plans. In generating alternative plans, the method takes advantage of the structure of a branch-and-bound algorithm. A branch-and-bound tree may be transformed into a matrix called the imputed value incidence matrix which displays the incidence relationship between each of the alternative plans and the state of variables (regional facilities) associated with it. Once the matrix is constructed the imputed value of a given variable or a given set of variables can be obtained from the matrix. An application of the method to a realistic example problem is presented and the interpretation of imputed values is discussed.U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOpe

Japanese regional wastewater treatment systems

The Japanese government is undertaking a major program to provide additional sewage collection and treatment because of the severe water pollution that has resulted from rapid urbanization and industrialization. The program is characterized by strong regional planning and by the utilization of central treatment plants serving many communities and, in some cases, industries. Through a study carried out in Japan many important planning issues were identified, including: (1) cultural and historical factors; (2) cost effectiveness, including economies of scale, treatment effectiveness, and short-run and long-run flexibility; (3) potential interrelationships with drainage, water supply, and land use; (4) interactions between planning agencies and local citizens; and (5) institutional arrangements between governmental bodies. The Japanese experience is a significant one in the history of planning wastewater treatment systems and provides some guidance as similar programs are initiated in other developed and developing countries throughout the world. In general, planning such systems represents a complex public-sector problem and calls for an interdisciplinary approach.U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOpe

A Multiobjective Branch-and-Bound Method for Planning Wastewater and Residual Management Systems

A multiobjective branch-and-bound algorithm is proposed for use in analysing multiobjective fixed-charge network-flow problems which are found commonly in water resources planning situations. Also proposed is a multiobjective imputed value analysis which makes use of the branch-and-bound tree structure and allows the comparison of the importance of facilities in the network as represented by individual arcs or sets of arcs. The mathematical formulation and the analysis procedure of the method are described, and the potential usefulness of the method is demonstrated using two hypothetical example problems dealing with regional wastewater treatment and residual management systems. A FORTRAN program for implementing the algorithm is available from the first author

A multi-ethnic meta-analysis identifies novel genes, including ACSL5, associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating progressive motor neuron disease that affects people of all ethnicities. Approximately 90% of ALS cases are sporadic and thought to have multifactorial pathogenesis. To understand the genetics of sporadic ALS, we conducted a genome-wide association study using 1,173 sporadic ALS cases and 8,925 controls in a Japanese population. A combined meta-analysis of our Japanese cohort with individuals of European ancestry revealed a significant association at the ACSL5 locus (top SNP p = 2.97 × 10−8). We validated the association with ACSL5 in a replication study with a Chinese population and an independent Japanese population (1941 ALS cases, 3821 controls; top SNP p = 1.82 × 10−4). In the combined meta-analysis, the intronic ACSL5 SNP rs3736947 showed the strongest association (p = 7.81 × 10−11). Using a gene-based analysis of the full multi-ethnic dataset, we uncovered additional genes significantly associated with ALS: ERGIC1, RAPGEF5, FNBP1, and ATXN3. These results advance our understanding of the genetic basis of sporadic ALS

Parathyroid hormone 1 (1-34) acts on the scales and involves calcium metabolism in goldfish

金沢大学環日本海域環境研究センターThe effect of fugu parathyroid hormone 1 (fugu PTH1) on osteoblasts and osteoclasts in teleosts was examined with an assay system using teleost scale and the following markers: alkaline phosphatase (ALP) for osteoblasts and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) for osteoclasts. Synthetic fugu PTH1 (1-34) (100 pg/ml-10 ng/ml) significantly increased ALP activity at 6 h of incubation. High-dose (10 ng/ml) fugu PTH1 significantly increased ALP activity even after 18 h of incubation. In the case of TRAP activity, fugu PTH1 did not change at 6 h of incubation, but fugu PTH1 (100 pg/ml-10 ng/ml) significantly increased TRAP activity at 18 h. Similar results were obtained for human PTH (1-34), but there was an even greater response with fugu PTH1 than with human PTH. In vitro, we demonstrated that both the receptor activator of the NF-κB ligand in osteoblasts and the receptor activator NF-κB mRNA expression in osteoclasts increased significantly by fugu PTH1 treatment. In an in vivo experiment, fugu PTH1 induced hypercalcemia resulted from the increase of both osteoblastic and osteoclastic activities in the scale as well as the decrease of scale calcium contents after fugu PTH1 injection. In addition, an in vitro experiment with intramuscular autotransplanted scale indicated that the ratio of multinucleated osteoclasts/mononucleated osteoclasts in PTH-treated scales was significantly higher than that in the control scales. Thus, we concluded that PTH acts on osteoblasts and osteoclasts in the scales and regulates calcium metabolism in goldfish. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Emerging concepts in biomarker discovery; The US-Japan workshop on immunological molecular markers in oncology

Supported by the Office of International Affairs, National Cancer Institute (NCI), the "US-Japan Workshop on Immunological Biomarkers in Oncology" was held in March 2009. The workshop was related to a task force launched by the International Society for the Biological Therapy of Cancer (iSBTc) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to identify strategies for biomarker discovery and validation in the field of biotherapy. The effort will culminate on October 28th 2009 in the "iSBTc-FDA-NCI Workshop on Prognostic and Predictive Immunologic Biomarkers in Cancer", which will be held in Washington DC in association with the Annual Meeting. The purposes of the US-Japan workshop were a) to discuss novel approaches to enhance the discovery of predictive and/or prognostic markers in cancer immunotherapy; b) to define the state of the science in biomarker discovery and validation. The participation of Japanese and US scientists provided the opportunity to identify shared or discordant themes across the distinct immune genetic background and the diverse prevalence of disease between the two Nations