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Municipal solid waste (MSW) quantity and composition analysis is fundamental for the planning of municipal waste management services. The purpose of this paper is to report the results and experiences of sampling household waste at the source of generation in Gaborone, Botswana. The average generation rate, in kg capita(-1) day(-1), and percentages of various components of waste in Gaborone were determined using a statistically designed household sampling survey. The survey covered 47 households with different socio-economic characteristics over 21 days with 893 samples obtained. The results showed that the average waste generation rate for Gaborone was 0.33 kg capita(-1) day(-1). Contrary to common belief, the waste generation rate measured as in weight units was found not be directly related to household income. However, the packaging fractions of plastic and paper measured as volume had a direct relationship with household income. Across all income groups, the putrescible waste fraction constituted the highest proportion of the waste stream at approximately 68%. The main general conclusion is on the importance of practical considerations. As much as statistically designed sampling procedures provide a useful means of estimating the quantity and composition of household waste at source of generation, there are some practical issues that should be carefully considered during sampling to improve the accuracy and relevance of the results.

BackgroundConstitutive and regulated internalization of cell surface proteins has been extensively investigated. The regulated internalization has been characterized as a principal mechanism for removing cell-surface receptors from the plasma membrane, and signaling to downstream targets of receptors. However, so far it is still not known whether the functional properties of remaining (non-internalized) receptor/channels may be regulated by internalization of the same class of receptor/channels. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is a principal subtype of glutamate-gated ion channel and plays key roles in neuronal plasticity and memory functions. NMDARs are well-known to undergo two types of regulated internalization – homologous and heterologous, which can be induced by high NMDA/glycine and DHPG, respectively. In the present work, we investigated effects of regulated NMDAR internalization on the activity of residual cell-surface NMDARs and neuronal functions.ResultsIn electrophysiological experiments we discovered that the regulated internalization of NMDARs not only reduced the number of cell surface NMDARs but also caused an inhibition of the activity of remaining (non-internalized) surface NMDARs. In biochemical experiments we identified that this functional inhibition of remaining surface NMDARs was mediated by increased serine phosphorylation of surface NMDARs, resulting from the activation of protein kinase D1 (PKD1). Knockdown of PKD1 did not affect NMDAR internalization but prevented the phosphorylation and inhibition of remaining surface NMDARs and NMDAR-mediated synaptic functions.ConclusionThese data demonstrate a novel concept that regulated internalization of cell surface NMDARs not only reduces the number of NMDARs on the cell surface but also causes an inhibition of the activity of remaining surface NMDARs through intracellular signaling pathway(s). Furthermore, modulating the activity of remaining surface receptors may be an effective approach for treating receptor internalization-induced changes in neuronal functions of the CNS.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13041-015-0167-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This paper investigates the effect that cultural and religious backgrounds have on water consumption patterns among ethnic minorities in UK cities. District meter area data were combined with ethnicity and religion data from the 2001 UK census to highlight particular areas of interest. The research identifies startling differences in water use patterns, which are clearly linked directly with religious and cultural practices. The overall conclusion is that it would be extremely unwise to exclude these social parameters in any further research into understanding domestic water demand. The research has application in the wider context of research or practice outside the western world, where the factors identified in this research may characterise the vast majority of water supply systems.

Previous studies demonstrated that intra‐domain interactions between Src family kinases (SFKs), stabilized by binding of the phosphorylated C‐terminus to the SH2 domain and/or binding of the SH2 kinase linker to the SH3 domain, lock the molecules in a closed conformation, disrupt the kinase active site, and inactivate SFKs. Here we report that the up‐regulation of N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors (NMDARs) induced by expression of constitutively active neuronal Src (n‐Src), in which the C‐terminus tyrosine is mutated to phenylalanine (n‐Src/Y535F), is significantly reduced by dysfunctions of the SH2 and/or SH3 domains of the protein. Furthermore, we found that dysfunctions of SH2 and/or SH3 domains reduce auto‐phosphorylation of the kinase activation loop, depress kinase activity, and decrease NMDAR phosphorylation. The SH2 domain plays a greater regulatory role than the SH3 domain. Our data also show that n‐Src binds directly to the C‐terminus of the NMDAR NR2A subunit in vitro, with a KD of 108.2 ± 13.3 nm. This binding is not Src kinase activity‐dependent, and dysfunctions of the SH2 and/or SH3 domains do not significantly affect the binding. These data indicate that the SH2 and SH3 domains may function to promote the catalytic activity of active n‐Src, which is important in the regulation of NMDAR functions. Structured digital abstract  http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074560: NR2A (uniprotkb:http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q00959) binds (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0407) to n‐Src (uniprotkb:http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P05480) by surface plasmon resonance (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0107)  http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074641, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074668, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074679, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074693, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074813: n‐Src (uniprotkb:http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P05480) and n‐Src (uniprotkb:http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P05480) phosphorylate (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0217) by protein kinase assay (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0424)  http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074576, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074726, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074741, http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-8074777: n‐Src (uniprotkb:http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P05480) phosphorylates (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0217) NR2A (uniprotkb:http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q00959) by protein kinase assay (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0424)