A pilot survey of 39 Victorian WWTP effluents using a high speed luminescent umu test in conjunction with a novel GC-MS-database technique for automatic identification of micropollutants

In 2007, samples of treated effluent were collected at point of discharge to the environment from 39 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located across Victoria, Australia grouped by treatment type. Sample genotoxicity was assessed with a high-throughput luminescent umu test method using Salmonella typhimurium TL210 strain, with and without addition of a commercially available metabolic activation system. Samples were also screened using a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric mass-structure database recognition method. A genotoxic response was observed in half of the samples tested without metabolic activation system (相似文献   

Measurement of the flood discharge of a small-sized river using an existing digital video recording system

In this study, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system, installed for surveillance purposes, is utilized to measure the flow rate during a flood. The procedure to determine both the angle and scale-factor of the camera is described. Then, image analysis techniques, namely the direct visual measurement method, Large-Scale PIV (LSPIV) and Space-Time Image Velocimetry (STIV), are applied to the video images recorded by the CCTV camera. The results of these methods and the conventional float measurement are compared. In addition, the accuracy of the respective methods is discussed. A set of low-quality video images of a flood during a thunderstorm that occurred under the dark ambient conditions (midnight) is analyzed using three image-based methods. The transition of the flow rate during the event is successfully estimated.     

Emerging female entrepreneurship in Japan: A case study of Digimom workers

An economic solution for reversing Japan's financial challenges is entrepreneurship. New ventures are emerging outside the traditional Japanese management systems of lifetime employment, seniority systems, enterprise unions, and the Japanese business culture, which stresses a group‐oriented, riskaverse orientation. Governmental changes are slowly improving the climate for entrepreneurship. Using a case‐study approach, this article follows the development and strategic challenges facing the company Digimom (or “Digital Mom”) Workers, and profiles the historic and cultural challenges facing a female entrepreneur in Japan. Financial reports as well as a profile of the competitive environment are included. Implications and lessons learned follow the case analysis. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A comparative study of eating‐out behaviour between Japan and Korea by fuzzy regression

The Japanese and Korean dietary styles are the most similar in the world. The dietary changes of two Asian countries, which are concomitant with their economic growth, have also followed a similar course. Exteriorization is progressing in eating habits, which is connected with a change of lifestyle and food consciousness. The environment surrounding consumers is changing, and consumption behaviour is gradually changing too. Generally, human action depends on a subjective judgement and involves uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the consumer's eating‐out behaviour from 1976 to 1998 by fuzzy regression, which is able to deal with a vague and uncertain phenomenon, and to show the effect of this method between the two countries. As a result, the fuzzy parameters showed fairly similar trends both in Japan and Korea. The relative price and habit‐formation effect influenced the expenditure of eating‐out directly, whereas income had an indirect influence on eating‐out expenditure. Moreover, Korean consumer behaviour had become much more vague and complicated than that in Japan.