Trends and individual differences in response to short-haul fight operations

Science.gov (United States)

Chidester, T. R.

1990-01-01

A survey of airline pilots was undertaken to determine normative patterns and individual differences in mood and sleep during short-haul flight operations. The results revealed that over the course of a typical 2-d trip, pilots experience a decline in positive mood, or activity, and an increase in negative mood, or tension. On layovers, pilots report experiencing sleep of shorter duration and poorer quality than at home. These patterns are very similar to those reported by Gander and Graeber and by Gander et al. using high-fidelity sleep and activity monitoring equipment. Examination of the impact of two personality dimensions extracted from the Jenkins Activity Survey measure of the Type A personality, Achievement Striving and Impatience/Irritability, suggested that Impatience/Irritability may serve as a marker of individuals most likely to experience health-related problems on trips. Achievement Striving may serve as a predictor of performance in crew settings.

Airsickness and aircraft motion during short-haul flights.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, M; Griffin, M J; Holland, I

2000-12-01

There is little quantitative information that can be used to predict the incidence of airsickness from the motions experienced in military or civil aviation. This study examines the relationship between low-frequency aircraft motion and passenger sickness in short-haul turboprop flights within the United Kingdom. A questionnaire survey of 923 fare-paying passengers was conducted on 38 commercial airline flights. Concurrent measurements of aircraft motion were made on all journeys, yielding approximately 30 h of aircraft motion data. Overall, 0.5% of passengers reported vomiting, 8.4% reported nausea (range 0% to 34.8%) and 16.2% reported illness (range 0% to 47.8%) during flight. Positive correlations were found between the percentage of passengers who experienced nausea or felt ill and the magnitude of low-frequency lateral and vertical motion, although neither motion uniquely predicted airsickness. The incidence of motion sickness also varied with passenger age, gender, food consumption and activity during air travel. No differences in sickness were found between passengers located in different seating sections of the aircraft, or as a function of moderate levels of alcohol consumption. The passenger responses suggest that a useful prediction of airsickness can be obtained from magnitudes of low frequency aircraft motion. However, some variations in airsickness may also be explained by individual differences between passengers and their psychological perception of flying.

Trends and individual differences in response to short-haul flight operations

Science.gov (United States)

Chidester, Thomas R.

1990-01-01

A survey of airline pilots was undertaken to determine normative patterns and individual differences in mood and sleep during short-haul flight operations. The results revealed that over the course of a typical 2-d trip, pilots experience a decline in positive mood, or activity, and an increase in negative mood, or tension. On layovers, pilots report experiencing sleep of shorter duration and poorer quality than at home. These patterns are very similar to those reported by Gander and Graeber (1987) and by Gander et al. (1988), using high-fidelity sleep and activity monitoring equipment. Examination of the impact of two personality dimensions extracted from the Jenkins Activity Survey measure of the Type A personality, Achievement Striving and Impatience/Irritability, suggested that Impatience/Irritability may serve as a marker of individuals most likely to experience health-related problems on trips. Achievement Striving may serve as a predictor of performance in crew settings.

Operating systems in the air transportation environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherry, G. W.

1971-01-01

Consideration of the problems facing air transport at present, and to be expected in the future. In the Northeast Corridor these problems involve community acceptance, airway and airport congestion and delays, passenger acceptance, noise reduction, and improvements in low-density short-haul economics. In the development of a superior short-haul operating system, terminal-configured vs cruise-configured vehicles are evaluated. CTOL, STOL, and VTOL aircraft of various types are discussed. In the field of noise abatement, it is shown that flight procedural techniques are capable of supplementing ?quiet engine' technology.

Quiet Clean Short-haul Experimental Engine (QCSEE): The aerodynamic and mechanical design of the QCSEE under-the-wing fan

Science.gov (United States)

1977-01-01

The design, fabrication, and testing of two experimental high bypass geared turbofan engines and propulsion systems for short haul passenger aircraft are described. The aerodynamic and mechanical design of a variable pitch 1.34 pressure ratio fan for the under the wing (UTW) engine are included. The UTW fan was designed to permit rotation of the 18 composite fan blades into the reverse thrust mode of operation through both flat pitch and stall pitch directions.

Formation flying as an innovative air transportation system for long-haul commercial flight : A focus on operational feasibility and potential gain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Herinckx, L.E.; Gutleb, T.L.M.; Van Nunen, R.; Van Rompuy, E.; Bos, D.A.; Dijkers, H.P.A.; De Wit, J.; Radfar, H.; Sahin, S.E.; Beelarts van Blokland, W.W.A.

2011-01-01

Formation flying is introduced as a new and innovative air transportation system for long-haul commercial flight. With this paper the operational feasibility of formation flying is addressed, both from a market demand and economic, as well as an air traffic control perspective. Preliminary results

77 FR 45921 - Alaskan Fuel Hauling as a Restricted Category Special Purpose Flight Operation

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-02

... operations, each aircraft used to transport fuel will be required to receive FAA certification for the... regulations. The special purpose of Alaskan fuel hauling was considered for aircraft type-certificated under... required for this special purpose. The fuel hauling system must be shown to meet the applicable...

49 CFR 1242.76 - Administration; pickup and delivery, marine line haul, and rail substitute service; loading...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... haul, and rail substitute service; loading, unloading and local marine; protective services; freight... SEPARATION OF COMMON OPERATING EXPENSES BETWEEN FREIGHT SERVICE AND PASSENGER SERVICE FOR RAILROADS 1 Operating Expenses-Transportation § 1242.76 Administration; pickup and delivery, marine line haul, and rail...

The impact of changing technology on the demand for air transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Kneafsey, J. T.; Taneja, N. K.

1978-01-01

Demand models for air transportation that are sensitive to the impact of changing technology were developed. The models are responsive to potential changes in technology, and to changing economic, social, and political factors as well. In addition to anticipating the wide differences in the factors influencing the demand for long haul and short haul air travel, the models were designed to clearly distinguish among the unique features of these markets.

The Problem of Multiple Criteria Selection of the Surface Mining Haul Trucks

Science.gov (United States)

Bodziony, Przemysław; Kasztelewicz, Zbigniew; Sawicki, Piotr

2016-06-01

Vehicle transport is a dominant type of technological processes in rock mines, and its profit ability is strictly dependent on overall cost of its exploitation, especially on diesel oil consumption. Thus, a rational design of transportation system based on haul trucks should result from thorough analysis of technical and economic issues, including both cost of purchase and its further exploitation, having a crucial impact on the cost of minerals extraction. Moreover, off-highway trucks should be selected with respect to all specific exploitation conditions and even the user's preferences and experience. In this paper a development of universal family of evaluation criteria as well as application of evaluation method for haul truck selection process for a specific exploitation conditions in surface mining have been carried out. The methodology presented in the paper is based on the principles of multiple criteria decision aiding (MCDA) using one of the ranking method, i.e. ELECTRE III. The applied methodology has been allowed for ranking of alternative solution (variants), on the considered set of haul trucks. The result of the research is a universal methodology, and it consequently may be applied in other surface mines with similar exploitation parametres.

Post-Haul Mortality - Live Hauling of Fish

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and...

Investigation of human body vibration exposures on haul trucks operating at U.S. surface mines/quarries relative to haul truck activity

Science.gov (United States)

Mayton, Alan G.; Porter, William L.; Xu, Xueyan S.; Weston, Eric B.; Rubenstein, Elaine N.

2018-01-01

Workers who operate mine haul trucks are exposed to whole-body vibration (WBV) on a routine basis. Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD) investigated WBV and hand-arm vibration (HAV) exposures for mine/quarry haul truck drivers in relation to the haul truck activities of dumping, loading, and traveling with and without a load. The findings show that WBV measures in weighted root-mean-square accelerations (aw) and vibration dose value (VDV), when compared to the ISO/ANSI and European Directive 2002/44/EC standards, were mostly below the Exposure Action Value (EAV) identified by the health guidance caution zone (HGCZ). Nevertheless, instances were recorded where the Exposure Limit Value (ELV) was exceeded by more than 500 to 600 percent for VDVx and awx, respectively. Researchers determined that these excessive levels occurred during the traveling empty activity, when the haul truck descended down grade into the pit loading area, sliding at times, on a wet and slippery road surface caused by rain and overwatering. WBV levels (not normalized to an 8-h shift) for the four haul truck activities showed mean awz levels for five of the seven drivers exceeding the ISO/ANSI EAV by 9–53 percent for the traveling empty activity. Mean awx and awz levels were generally higher for traveling empty and traveling loaded and lower for loading/dumping activities. HAV for measures taken on the steering wheel and shifter were all below the HGCZ which indicates that HAV is not an issue for these drivers/operators when handling steering and shifting control devices. PMID:29725145

CFD Investigation on Long-Haul Passenger Bus

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, C. F.; Tee, B. T.; Law, H. C.; Lim, T. L.

2015-09-01

Air flow distribution is one of the important factors that will influence the bus passenger comfort during long haul travel. Poor air flow distribution not only cause discomfort to the bus passenger but also influence their travel mode as well. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the air flow performance of the bus air-conditioning system through CFD simulation approach. A 3D CAD model of air ducts was drawn and hence analysed by using CFD software, namely ANSYS Fluent, to determine the airflow rate for every outlets of the air-conditioning system. The simulated result was then validated with experimental data obtained from prototype model of air duct. Based on the findings, new design concepts is proposed with the aim to meet the industry requirement as well as to improve the bus passenger comfort during long haul travel.

Evaluation of four-dimensional nonbinary LDPC-coded modulation for next-generation long-haul optical transport networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yequn; Arabaci, Murat; Djordjevic, Ivan B

2012-04-09

Leveraging the advanced coherent optical communication technologies, this paper explores the feasibility of using four-dimensional (4D) nonbinary LDPC-coded modulation (4D-NB-LDPC-CM) schemes for long-haul transmission in future optical transport networks. In contrast to our previous works on 4D-NB-LDPC-CM which considered amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise as the dominant impairment, this paper undertakes transmission in a more realistic optical fiber transmission environment, taking into account impairments due to dispersion effects, nonlinear phase noise, Kerr nonlinearities, and stimulated Raman scattering in addition to ASE noise. We first reveal the advantages of using 4D modulation formats in LDPC-coded modulation instead of conventional two-dimensional (2D) modulation formats used with polarization-division multiplexing (PDM). Then we demonstrate that 4D LDPC-coded modulation schemes with nonbinary LDPC component codes significantly outperform not only their conventional PDM-2D counterparts but also the corresponding 4D bit-interleaved LDPC-coded modulation (4D-BI-LDPC-CM) schemes, which employ binary LDPC codes as component codes. We also show that the transmission reach improvement offered by the 4D-NB-LDPC-CM over 4D-BI-LDPC-CM increases as the underlying constellation size and hence the spectral efficiency of transmission increases. Our results suggest that 4D-NB-LDPC-CM can be an excellent candidate for long-haul transmission in next-generation optical networks.

Responses of Lower-Body Power and Match Running Demands Following Long-Haul Travel in International Rugby Sevens Players.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, John A; Pumpa, Kate L; Pyne, David B

2017-03-01

Mitchell, JA, Pumpa, KL, and Pyne, DB. Responses of lowerbody power and match running demands after long-haul travel in international rugby sevens players. J Strength Cond Res 31(3): 686-695, 2017-This study determined the effect of long-haul (>5 hours) travel on lower-body power and match running demands in international rugby sevens players. Lower-body power was assessed in 22 male international rugby sevens players (age 21.7 ± 2.7 years, mass 89.0 ± 6.7 kg, stature 180.5 ± 6.2 cm; mean ± SD) monitored over 17 rugby sevens tournaments. A countermovement jump was used to monitor lower-body power (peak and mean power) over repeated three week travel and competition periods (pretravel, posttravel, and posttournament). Small decreases were evident in peak power after both short and long-haul travel (-4.0%, ±3.2%; mean, ±90% confidence limits) with further reductions in peak and mean power posttournament (-4.5%, ±2.3% and -3.8%, ±1.5%) culminating in a moderate decrease in peak power overall (-7.4%, ±4.0%). A subset of 12 players (completing a minimum of 8 tournaments) had the effects of match running demands assessed with lower-body power. In this subset, long-haul travel elicited a large decrease in lower-body peak (-9.4%, ±3.5%) and mean power (-5.6%, ±2.9%) over the monitoring period, with a small decrease (-4.3%, ±3.0% and -2.2%, ±1.7%) posttravel and moderate decrease (-5.4%, ±2.5% and -3.5%, ±1.9%) posttournament, respectively. Match running demands were monitored through global positioning system. In long-haul tournaments, the 12 players covered ∼13%, ±13% greater total distance (meter) and ∼11%, ±10% higher average game meters >5 m·s when compared with short-haul (rugby sevens tournaments after long-haul travel.

Impact of short- compared to long-haul international travel on the sleep and wellbeing of national wheelchair basketball athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Heidi R; Miller, Joanna; Taylor, Lee; Sargent, Charli; Lastella, Michele; Fowler, Peter M

2018-07-01

Currently, very little is known about the impact of short- or long-haul air travel on the sleep and wellbeing of wheelchair basketball athletes. Eleven national wheelchair basketball athletes wore actigraphy monitors prior, during, and after air travel to the United Kingdom. Upon arrival, participants rated their subjective jet-lag, fatigue, and vigor. Individuals traveled to the United Kingdom from different locations in Australia, the United States, and Europe and were categorised according to travel length [LONG (up to 30.2 h) or SHORT (up to 6.5 h)]. Linear mixed models determined effects of travel length on sleep and subjective ratings of jet-lag, fatigue, and vigor. During competition, subjective fatigue and jet-lag were substantially higher (ES = 0.73; ±0.77) and (ES = 0.57; ±0.60), subjective vigor was lower (ES = 1.94; ±0.72), and get-up time was earlier (ES = 0.57; ±0.60) for LONG when compared to SHORT. Travelling greater distances by airplane had a larger effect on subjective ratings of jet-lag, fatigue and vigor, rather than sleep. Irrespective of travel group, sleep and subjective responses were compromised, reflecting the travel requirements, competition-mediated influences, and/or due to a change in environment.

Determinants of Safe and Productive Truck Driving: Empirical Evidence from Long-haul Cargo Transport

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vries, J.; de Koster, R.; Rijsdijk, S.; Roy, D.

2017-01-01

Using GPS data of 370 long-haul trips in India, survey data of 49 truck drivers, and ERP data, this study examines the role of driver personality characteristics in predicting risky and productive driving. The results show that more conscientious drivers display more risky driving behavior. More

A Tribute to Professor Rene H. Miller - A Pioneer in Aeromechanics and Rotary Wing Flight Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Friedmann, Peretz P.; Johnson, Wayne; Scully, Michael P.

2011-01-01

Rene H. Miller (May 19, 1916 January 28, 2003), Emeritus H. N. Slater Professor of Flight Transportation, was one of the most influential pioneers in rotary wing aeromechanics as well as a visionary whose dream was the development of a tilt-rotor based short haul air transportation system. This paper pays a long overdue tribute to his memory and to his extraordinary contributions.

TRADISI PERINGATAN HAUL DALAM PENDEKATAN SOSIOLOGI PENGETAHUAN PETER L. BERGER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulloh Hanif

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Haul is a tradition typical of Muslims in Indonesia. Although as a term, can be likened to haul in the tradition of pilgrimage of Muslims in general, but in Indonesia haul have different shapes and implementation in practice with the pilgrimage. This can be seen clearly as an institutionalized social activity. Meaning of pilgrimage as a reminder of death eventually not be the main objective in the implementation of the haul, although religious motives still underlie the practice. However haul relfeksi has become a kind of history, not just in view of the transience of human life, but rather the development of the vision and mission of human life further they get from the reflection of history celebrated figures. Making of history eventually become important to observe. History is not just a stretch of the past, present, and future, but, in the context of haul, history is closely related to building public awareness about the celebrated figures, either directly or through stories or media. Building awareness is what allows every individual who commemorate haul will internalize the objects of consciousness different from the historical reflection, although figures are presented objectively observed through individuals close to and understand objectively as himself. It is at least able to prove that religion is very closely linked to community activities. Keywords: Haul, Peter L. Berger, Sosiologi Pengetahuan dan Refleksi Sejarah.

Mine haul road fugitive dust emission and exposure characterisation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, R.J.; Visser, A.T. [University of Pretoria, Pretoria (South Africa). Dept. of Mining Engineering

2001-03-01

Excessive dust generation from mine haul roads is a problem common to most surface coal mining operations. Optimal wearing course material selection parameters reduce, but do not toally eliminate the potential to produce dust. For existing operations, which may not have optimally designed and maintained roads, the problem of identifying the haul road dust defect, quantifying its impact on both safety and health and assigning priorities within the constraints of limited capital and manpower is problematic. This is reflected in the fact that most surface mine operators agree dust-free roads are desirable, but find it difficult to translate this into cost-effective betterment activities. The aim of this paper is to describe fugitive dust emission and exposure characteristics associated with ultra-heavy mine haul trucks running on unpaved mine haul roads. Models are described which enable mines to assess the likely dustiness of their chosen haul road material as a function of surface loading of fines, traffic types and volume, together with various material parameters. By combining these models with the results of quantitative exposure profiling, a mine can, in conjunction with the assessment, determine the most cost- and safety-effective haul road dust management strategy. 18 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

The relative importance of factors that determine log-hauling costs

Science.gov (United States)

A. Jeff Martin; A. Jeff Martin

1971-01-01

Hauling costs are a major expense to lumbermen, but little is known about which factors affect hauling costs the most. A recent Forest Service study of hauling costs on 34 logging operations sheds light on whmich factors of cost are important and which might require less attention. These results should help lumbermen adopt a cost accounting procedure and help them with...

The effect of workload and other risk factors of metabolic syndrome among short-haul commercial pilots in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inne Yuliawati

2016-03-01

Full Text Available AbstrakLatar belakang: Sindroma metabolik (MS dapat menyebabkan kecacatan di antara pilot di Indonesia.Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor risiko MS antara pilot komersialjarak pendek di Indonesia.Metode: Penelitian potong lintang dengan sampling purposif yang dilakukan di antara pilot komersial yangmelakukan uji medik di Balai Kesehatan Penerbangan Sipil, Jakarta tanggal 27 Juli-30 Agustus 2014. Sindromametabolik dinilai menurutkriterian National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Faktorrisiko diperoleh dengan menggunakan kuesioner self-reporting anonim. Data laboratorium diperoleh daricatatan medis. Regresi Cox digunakan untuk mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor risiko yang dominan dari MS.Hasil: Selama pengumpulan data, 2135 pilot melakukan uji medik. Jumlah pilot Asia laki-laki memenuhi kriteriainklusi adalah 864 pilot. Prevalensi MS adalah 18,28%. Dibandingkan dengan kelompok 20-35 tahun, yangberusia berusia 56-65 tahun memiliki risiko 88% lebih tinggi untuk MS [risiko relatif sesuaian (RRa = 1,88;P = 0,019]. Jika ditinjau dari jumlah sektor dalam 24 jam terakhir, dibandingkan dengan 0-3 sektor, subyekyang memiliki 6-7 sektor mempunyai risiko 66% lebih tinggi untuk MS (RRa = 1,66; P = 0,033, sedangkanyang memiliki 8 atau lebih sektor dalam 24 jam memiliki 82% lebih berisiko untuk MS (RRa = 1,82; P = 0,072.Kesimpulan: Pilot berusia tahun-56-65, yang memiliki 6 atau lebih sektor dalam 24 jam terakhir, memilikirisiko lebih tinggi untuk sindroma metabolik antara jarak pendek pilot komersial di Indonesia. (HealthScience Journal of Indonesia 2015;6:81-6Kata kunci: Sindroma metabolik, jumlah sektor, pilot, Indonesia Abstract Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS could cause sudden incapacitation among pilots in Indonesia.The aim of this study was to identify risk factors of MS among short-haul commercial pilots in Indonesia.Methods: A cross-sectional study with purposive sampling was conducted

20 CFR 653.106 - JS day-haul responsibilities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false JS day-haul responsibilities. 653.106 Section... THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE SYSTEM Services for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFWs) § 653.106 JS day... Regional Administrator is obtained. (b) No JS applicants shall be referred to non-JS operated day-haul...

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT, BACKROUND FOR SHORT/ MEDIUM COURIER TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matei POPA

2010-03-01

Full Text Available In accordance with Air Force requirements, the comparative analysis of short/medium transport aircraft comes to sustain procurement decision of short/medium transport aircraft. This paper presents, in short, the principles and the results of the comparative analysis for short/medium military transport aircraft.

Quarry Haul Road Ecological Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-09-01

This biological survey was performed to document the summer flora and fauna found along the haul road constructed as part of the remedial action for the quarry bulk waste. State and Federal species listed as threatened or endangered were noted if encountered while surveying. Sampling locations were equally spaced along the quarry haul road, and a survey for vegetation and birds conducted at each location. Bird observations were conducted as breeding bird surveys once in June of 1991, and again in June of 1992. Each year's survey includes two observations in the early morning and one late in the evening. Vegetation surveys were conducted in 1991 using quadrants and transects. mammal, reptile, and amphibian sightings were noted as encountered

Cost characteristics of tilt-rotor, conventional air and high speed rail short-haul intercity passenger service

Science.gov (United States)

Schoendorfer, David L.; Morlok, Edward K.

1985-01-01

The cost analysis done to support an assessment of the potential for a small tilt-rotor aircraft to operate in short-haul intercity passenger service is described in detail. Anticipated costs of tilt-rotor air service were compared to the costs of two alternatives: conventional air and high speed rail (HSR). Costs were developed for corridor service, varying key market characteristics including distance, passenger volumes, and minimum frequency standards. The resulting cost vs output information can then be used to compare modal costs for essentially identical service quality and passenger volume or for different service levels and volumes for each mode, as appropriate. Extensive sensitivity analyses are performed. The cost-output features of these technologies are compared. Tilt-rotor is very attractive compared to HSR in terms of costs over the entire range of volume. It also has costs not dramatically different from conventional air, but tilt-rotor costs are generally higher. Thus some of its other advantages, such as the VTOL capability, must offset the cost disadvantage for it to be a preferred or competitive mode in any given market. These issues are addressed in the companion report which considers strategies for tilt-rotor development in commercial air service.

75 FR 9548 - Reduction of Use of Social Security Numbers (SSN) in the Department of Defense (DoD)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-03

... privileges. Examples include office automation, electronic mail, Web services, and major functional or... enclave responsible for connecting computing environments by providing short-haul data transport capabilities such as local or campus area networks, or long- haul data transport capabilities such as...

The impact of coherent synchrotron radiation on the beam transport of short bunches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, R.

1999-01-01

Designs for next-generation accelerator, such as future linear colliders and short-wavelength FEL drivers, require beams of short (mm-length or smaller) bunches and high charge (nC-regime). As such a high charge microbunch traverses magnetic bends, the curvature effect on the bunch self-interaction, by way of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) and space charge force, may cause serious emittance degradation. This impact of CSR on the beam transport of short bunches has raised significant concern in the design of future machines and led to extensive investigations. This paper reviews some of the recent progress in the understanding of the CSR effect, presents analysis of and computational work on the CSR impact on short bunch transport, and addresses remaining issues

Alertness management in two-person long-haul flight operations

Science.gov (United States)

Rosekind, M. R.; Gander, P. H.

1992-01-01

Long-haul flight operations involve cumulative sleep loss, circadian disruption, and extended and irregular duty schedules. These factors reduce pilot alertness and performance on the flightdeck. Conceptually and operationally, alertness management in flight operations can be divided into preventive strategies and operational countermeasures. Preventive strategies are utilized prior to a duty period to mitigate or reduce the effects of sleep loss, circadian disruption and fatigue during subsequent flight operations. Operational countermeasures are used during operations as acute techniques for maintaining performance and alertness. Results from previous NASA Ames field studies document the sleep loss and circadian disruption in three-person long-haul flying and illustrate the application of preventive strategies and operational countermeasures. One strategy that can be used in both a preventive and operational manner is strategic napping. The application and effectiveness of strategic napping in long-haul operations will be discussed. Finally, long-haul flying in two-person highly automated aircraft capable of extended range operations will create new challenges to maintaining pilot alertness and performance. Alertness management issues in this flight environment will be explored.

Flight time, number of sectors and risk of low back pain among short and medium haul commercial female flight attendants in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irma Khrisnapandit

2016-07-01

with LBP among short and medium haul commercial female flight attendants in Indonesia. Methods: Cross-sectional study with purposive sampling among short and medium haul commercial female flight attendants who conduct medical examination on May 5-26th 2014 at Civil Aviation Medical Center. Demographic, job and LBP data collected using questionnaire and physical examination. Definition of LBP was historically pain that ever or still felt in lower back in the last month, non-neural, and no non-working related acute injury. Cox regression analysis used to identify risk factor associated LBP. Results: Among 333 female flight attendants who were conducting medical examination, 287 attendants willing to participate, and 240 meet inclusion criteria. There are 37.9% flight attendants experienced LBP. The dominant factors increasing LBP risk were flight time and number of sectors in the last 24 consecutive hours. Female flight attendant with 9 hours or more flight time compared with less have 82% higher LBP risk [adjusted relative risk (RRa = 1.82; p = 0.000]. Review from number of sectors in the last 24 consecutive hours, female flight attendant with 4 sectors or more compared with less have 53% higher LBP risk (RRa = 1.53; p = 0.034.   Conclusion: Nine hours or more flight time and 4 sectors or more in the last 24 consecutive hours have higher risk of LBP Key words: low back pain, female flight attendant, flight time, number of sectors, short and medium haul flight

Temperature - Live Hauling of Fish

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and...

KLA - Live Hauling of Fish

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and...

Environmental Survey Report for the ETTP: Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) Haul Road Corridor, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peterson, M.J.

2005-12-20

This report summarizes the results of environmental surveys conducted within the corridor of a temporary haul road (''Haul Road'') to be constructed from East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) to the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) located just west of the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12). Environmental surveys were conducted by natural resource experts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who routinely assess the significance of various project activities on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). ORNL assistance to the Haul Road Project included environmental assessments necessary to determine the best route for minimizing impacts to sensitive resources such as wetlands or rare plants. Once the final route was chosen, environmental surveys were conducted within the corridor to evaluate the impacts to sensitive resources that could not be avoided. The final Haul Road route follows established roads and a power-line corridor to the extent possible (Fig. 1). Detailed explanation regarding the purpose of the Haul Road and the regulatory context associated with its construction is provided in at least two major documents and consequently is not presented here: (1) Explanation of Significant Differences for the Record of Decision for the Disposal of Oak Ridge Reservation Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 Waste, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (January 2005, DOE/OR/01-2194&D2), and (2) Environmental Monitoring Plan for The ETTP to EMWMF Haul Road for the Disposal of Oak Ridge Reservation Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 Waste, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (April 2005, BJC/OR-2152). The focus of this report is a description of the sensitive resources to be impacted by Haul Road construction. Following a short description of the methods used for the environmental surveys, results and observations are presented in the following subsections: (1) General description

Selectivity in a trawl codend during haul-back operation: An overlooked phenomenon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Niels; Skeide, R.; Breen, M.

2008-01-01

), whiting (Merlangius merlangus) and Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), respectively, the mean percentages escaping at the surface were 16, 12 and 38% of the total escape while 17, 8 and 28% escaped during the haul-up phase. Compared to towing, the escape rate (no./min) increased for haddock by a factor...... 2.7 during haul-up and by a factor 1.7 at the surface, whereas the escape rates of whiting were similar for the three phases. The escape rate of Norway lobster increased by a factor of approximately 7 for both the haul-up and surface phases, compared to the towing phase. The selectivity parameters L......50 (50% retention length) and SR (selection rangeá=áL75-L25) were estimated and compared for the three different phases and for the whole haul for haddock, whiting and Norway lobster. For all three species there was no significant (Pá>á0.05) difference in L50 between the three phases of the haul...

Study of V/STOL aircraft implementation. Volume 1: Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Portenier, W. J.; Webb, H. M.

1973-01-01

A high density short haul air market which by 1980 is large enough to support the introduction of an independent short haul air transportation system is discussed. This system will complement the existing air transportation system and will provide relief of noise and congestion problems at conventional airports. The study has found that new aircraft, exploiting V/STOL and quiet engine technology, can be available for implementing these new services, and they can operate from existing reliever and general aviation airports. The study has also found that the major funding requirements for implementing new short haul services could be borne by private capital, and that the government funding requirement would be minimal and/or recovered through the airline ticket tax. In addition, a suitable new short haul aircraft would have a market potential for $3.5 billion in foreign sales. The long lead times needed for aircraft and engine technology development will require timely actions by federal agencies.

Metal exposure and effects in voles and small birds near a mining haul road in Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska.

Science.gov (United States)

Brumbaugh, William G; Mora, Miguel A; May, Thomas W; Phalen, David N

2010-11-01

Voles and small passerine birds were live-captured near the Delong Mountain Regional Transportation System (DMTS) haul road in Cape Krusenstern National Monument in northwest Alaska to assess metals exposure and sub-lethal biological effects. Similar numbers of animals were captured from a reference site in southern Cape Krusenstern National Monument for comparison. Histopathological examination of selected organs, and analysis of cadmium, lead, and zinc concentrations in liver and blood samples were performed. Voles and small birds captured from near the haul road had about 20 times greater blood and liver lead concentrations and about three times greater cadmium concentrations when compared to those from the reference site, but there were no differences in zinc tissue concentrations. One vole had moderate metastatic mineralization of kidney tissue, otherwise we observed no abnormalities in internal organs or DNA damage in the blood of any of the animals. The affected vole also had the greatest liver and blood Cd concentration, indicating that the lesion might have been caused by Cd exposure. Blood and liver lead concentrations in animals captured near the haul road were below concentrations that have been associated with adverse biological effects in other studies; however, subtle effects resulting from lead exposure, such as the suppression of the activity of certain enzymes, cannot be ruled out for some individual animals. Results from our 2006 reconnaissance-level study indicate that overall, voles and small birds obtained from near the DMTS road in Cape Krusenstern National Monument were not adversely affected by metals exposure; however, because of the small sample size and other uncertainties, continued monitoring of lead and cadmium in terrestrial habitats near the DMTS road is advised.

On Transport Service Selection in Intermodal Rail/Road Distribution Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Bierwirth

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Intermodal rail/road freight transport constitutes an alternative to long-haul road transport for the distribution of large volumes of goods. The paper introduces the intermodal transportation problem for the tactical planning of mode and service selection. In rail mode, shippers either book train capacity on a per-unit basis or charter block trains completely. Road mode is used for short-distance haulage to intermodal terminals and for direct shipments to customers. We analyze the competition of road and intermodal transportation with regard to freight consolidation and service cost on a model basis. The approach is applied to a distribution system of an industrial company serving customers in eastern Europe. The case study investigates the impact of transport cost and consolidation on the optimal modal split.

Loss-of-activity-mutation in the cardiac chloride-bicarbonate exchanger AE3 causes short QT syndrome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorsen, Kasper; Dam, Vibeke S.; Kjaer-Sorensen, Kasper

2017-01-01

unrelated families with SQTS. The mutation causes reduced surface expression of AE3 and reduced membrane bicarbonate transport. Slc4a3 knockdown in zebrafish causes increased cardiac pHi, short QTc, and reduced systolic duration, which is rescued by wildtype but not mutated SLC4A3. Mechanistic analyses...

Interference of a short-chain phospholipid with ion transport pathways in frog skin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Unmack, M A; Frederiksen, O; Willumsen, N J

1997-01-01

The effects of mucosal application of the short-chain phospholipid didecanoyl-L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine (DDPC; with two saturated 10-carbon acyl chains) on active Na+ transport and transepithelial conductance (G) in the frog skin (Rana temporaria) were investigated. Active Na+ transport...... of the frog skin epithelium and opens a paracellular tight junction pathway. Both effects may be caused by incorporation of DDPC in the apical cell membrane....

Haul-out behavior of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina in Hood Canal, Washington.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josh M London

Full Text Available The goal of this study was to model haul-out behavior of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina in the Hood Canal region of Washington State with respect to changes in physiological, environmental, and temporal covariates. Previous research has provided a solid understanding of seal haul-out behavior. Here, we expand on that work using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM with temporal autocorrelation and a large dataset. Our dataset included behavioral haul-out records from archival and VHF radio tag deployments on 25 individual seals representing 61,430 seal hours. A novel application for increased computational efficiency allowed us to examine this large dataset with a GLMM that appropriately accounts for temporal autocorellation. We found significant relationships with the covariates hour of day, day of year, minutes from high tide and year. Additionally, there was a significant effect of the interaction term hour of day : day of year. This interaction term demonstrated that seals are more likely to haul out during nighttime hours in August and September, but then switch to predominantly daylight haul-out patterns in October and November. We attribute this change in behavior to an effect of human disturbance levels. This study also examined a unique ecological event to determine the role of increased killer whale (Orcinus orca predation on haul-out behavior. In 2003 and 2005 these harbor seals were exposed to unprecedented levels of killer whale predation and results show an overall increase in haul-out probability after exposure to killer whales. The outcome of this study will be integral to understanding any changes in population abundance as a result of increased killer whale predation.

Nevada potential repository preliminary transportation strategy: Study 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None,

1995-04-01

Limited feasible options exist when considering the shipment of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. These options are rail or truck; because of the weight associated with transportation casks (68.0 to 113.4 tonnes/75 to 125 tons), heavy-haul trucks are also considered. Yucca Mountain currently lacks rail service or an existing right-of-way for rail; it also lacks a dedicated highway suitable for heavy-haul trucks. Approximately 11,230 shipments by rail are planned from waste producer sites to Nevada, with an additional 1,041 shipments by legal-weight truck from four reactor sites not capable of upgrading for rail shipment. This study identifies the reasonable alternatives for waste transport to the potential repository site, describes the evaluation process performed to identify those alternatives, and discusses the reasons for elimination of transportation routes deemed to be not reasonable. The study concluded that heavy haul truck transportation is feasible-cost is very favorable when compared to rail-but route restrictions must be further evaluated. In addition to restrictions due to seasonal weather conditions, specific routes have additional restrictions, including no travel on holidays or weekends, and travel during daylight hours only. Further restrictions will be imposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation based on routing of radioactive materials by highway. Operation and maintenance costs for heavy-haul over a 24-year period, based on preliminary information, were calculated on an estimated operational cost of $15,000 per trip, with an estimated 468 trips per year average (11,230 total trips), for an estimated cost of $171 million to $173 million, depending on the route used. Because the initial costs and the total system life cycle costs of heavy-haul are approximately 50 percent lower than the lowest rail cost, this option will continue to be evaluated.

Nevada potential repository preliminary transportation strategy: Study 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-04-01

Limited feasible options exist when considering the shipment of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. These options are rail or truck; because of the weight associated with transportation casks (68.0 to 113.4 tonnes/75 to 125 tons), heavy-haul trucks are also considered. Yucca Mountain currently lacks rail service or an existing right-of-way for rail; it also lacks a dedicated highway suitable for heavy-haul trucks. Approximately 11,230 shipments by rail are planned from waste producer sites to Nevada, with an additional 1,041 shipments by legal-weight truck from four reactor sites not capable of upgrading for rail shipment. This study identifies the reasonable alternatives for waste transport to the potential repository site, describes the evaluation process performed to identify those alternatives, and discusses the reasons for elimination of transportation routes deemed to be not reasonable. The study concluded that heavy haul truck transportation is feasible-cost is very favorable when compared to rail-but route restrictions must be further evaluated. In addition to restrictions due to seasonal weather conditions, specific routes have additional restrictions, including no travel on holidays or weekends, and travel during daylight hours only. Further restrictions will be imposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation based on routing of radioactive materials by highway. Operation and maintenance costs for heavy-haul over a 24-year period, based on preliminary information, were calculated on an estimated operational cost of $15,000 per trip, with an estimated 468 trips per year average (11,230 total trips), for an estimated cost of $171 million to $173 million, depending on the route used. Because the initial costs and the total system life cycle costs of heavy-haul are approximately 50 percent lower than the lowest rail cost, this option will continue to be evaluated

Performance Deterioration of Heavy-Haul Railway Bridges under Fatigue Loading Monitored by a Multisensor System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiwu Yu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Heavy-haul railway bridges play an increasingly essential role in the transportation in China due to the increasing transport volume. The performance deterioration of the scale models of a typical heavy-haul railway bridge under fatigue loading is monitored in this work, based on a multisensor system including the fiber-reinforced polymer optical fiber Bragg grating and electrical resistance strain gauges, linear variable displacement transducer, and accelerometer. Specifically, by monitoring/observing on the failure mode, fatigue life, load-midspan deflection response, material strain development, and so forth, this work develops an S-N model by comparing the relationship between fatigue life and rebar stress range with that between fatigue life and load level and proposes a damage evolution model considering the coupling of the stiffness degradation and inelastic deformation of specimens. It is found that the fatigue life of specimens is determined by the fatigue life of the rebar at the bottom and it may be lower than 2.0 million cycles with a 30-ton axle weight when environmental factors are taken into account. The predictions of the models agree well with experimental results. Therefore, this work furthers the understanding of the fatigue performance deterioration of the bridges by using a multisensor system.

Oxygen Uptake - Live Hauling of Fish

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and...

Dissolved Oxygen - Live Hauling of Fish

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and...

Nevada Transportation Options Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

P. GEHNER; E.M. WEAVER; L. FOSSUM

2006-01-01

This study performs a cost and schedule analysis of three Nevada Transportation options that support waste receipt at the repository. Based on the U.S. Department of Energy preference for rail transportation in Nevada (given in the Final Environmental Impact Statement), it has been assumed that a branch rail line would be constructed to support waste receipt at the repository. However, due to potential funding constraints, it is uncertain when rail will be available. The three Nevada Transportation options have been developed to meet a varying degree of requirements for transportation and to provide cost variations used in meeting the funding constraints given in the Technical Direction Letter guidelines for this study. The options include combinations of legal-weight truck, heavy-haul truck, and rail. Option 1 uses a branch rail line that would support initial waste receipt at the repository in 2010. Rail transportation would be the primary mode, supplemented by legal weight trucks. This option provides the highest level of confidence in cost and schedule, lowest public visibility, greatest public acceptability, lowest public dose, and is the recommended option for support of waste receipt. The completion of rail by 2010 will require spending approximately $800 million prior to 2010. Option 2 uses a phased rail approach to address a constrained funding scenario. To meet funding constraints, Option 2 uses a phased approach to delay high cost activities (final design and construction) until after initial waste receipt in 2010. By doing this, approximately 95 percent of the cost associated with completion of a branch rail line is deferred until after 2010. To support waste receipt until a branch rail line is constructed in Nevada, additional legal-weight truck shipments and heavy-haul truck shipments (on a limited basis for naval spent nuclear fuel) would be used to meet the same initial waste receipt rates as in Option 1. Use of heavy-haul shipments in the absence

Slow speed object detection for haul trucks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-09-15

Caterpillar integrates radar technology with its current camera based system. Caterpillar has developed the Integrated Object Detection System, a slow speed object detection system for mining haul trucks. Object detection is a system that aids the truck operator's awareness of their surroundings. The system consists of a color touch screen display along with medium- and short-range radar as well as cameras, harnesses and mounting hardware. It is integrated into the truck's Work Area Vision System (WAVS). After field testing in 2007, system commercialization began in 2008. Prototype systems are in operation in Australia, Utah and Arizona and the Integrated Object Detection System will be available in the fourth quarter of 2009 and on production trucks 785C, 789C, 793D and 797B. The article is adapted from a presentation by Mark Richards of Caterpillar to the Haulage & Loading 2009 conference, May, held in Phoenix, AZ. 1 fig., 5 photos.

Reasons for decision in the matter of Coral Energy Canada Inc. : application for approval of modifications to the Firm Transportation Risk Alleviation Mechanism (FT-RAM) pilot for the TransCanada PipeLines Limited Mainline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

Coral Energy Canada Inc. (Coral) is one of the largest wholesale energy marketers and traders in North America whose customers include utilities, gas distribution companies, municipalities, rural electrical cooperatives, independent power producers, industrial customers and commercial customers. As such, it is one of the largest shippers on the TransCanada Mainline Natural Gas Transmission System operated by TransCanada PipeLines Limited. As part of its 2001 and 2002 tolls and tariff applications, TransCanada proposed a new service enhancement called the Firm Transportation (FT) Make-up credits, which has proven to be flawed. A modified service enhancement known as the Firm Transportation Risk Alleviation Mechanism (FT-RAM) was subsequently proposed so that credits could be applied against a shipper's monthly interruptible transportation (IT) service account, based on any unused demand charges from the shippers FT contracts. In order to promote long haul service, the credits are only given for long-haul contracts, primarily for points originating in Alberta and Saskatchewan. On September 30, 2005, Coral applied to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board for approval of modifications to the (FT-RAM) pilot to be effective on November 1, 2005. Coral proposed that the existing pilot be expanded to include short-haul FT contracts in limited circumstances where the same shipper holds a long-haul contract that delivers to the same location as the receipt point of the short-haul FT contract. The Board sought views from interested party of the appropriate process and associated timelines that should be used to deal with the application. Certain parties suggested that it would be inappropriate for the Board to approve any modifications to the existing FT-RAM pilot until the terms and conditions underlying certain Toll Task Force Resolutions were fulfilled. This document presented the positions of the interested parties, Coral's response to the positions of parties, views of

An introduction to the integrated design of surface mine haul roads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, R.J.; Visser, A.T. [University of Pretoria, Pretoria (South Africa). Dept. of Mining Engineering

1997-12-01

The world-wide expansion of surface mining has led to the development of very large off-highway trucks currently capable of hauling layloads in excess of 160 t. Typical axle loads ranging from 110 t to 170 t are applied to haul roads that have been, at best, empirically designed on the premise of `satisfactory` or `failed`, both in terms of structure and function of the road. The use of these empirical pavement design techniques will prove inadequate when high axle loads are encountered. Not only will the maintenance costs of existing haul roads of inadequate thickness increase, but vehicle operating and maintenance costs will also increase prohibitively. Under these conditions there is thus a clearly defined need for improved construction and management techniques for flexible mine haulage roads, appropriate for the wheel loads of vehicles now in use. The aim of this paper is to introduce developments in haul road structural, functional and maintenance design and management which overcome the limitations associated with the previously empirical design techniques and to show how these developments are combined into an integrated design strategy combining construction techniques, available material and road maintenance equipment with hauler choice to realise a reduction in haulage and road maintenance costs. Future contributions will enumerate on the fundamental haul road structural, functional and maintenance design and management research from which these developments originated. 7 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.

Application of flywheel energy storage for heavy haul locomotives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiryagin, Maksym; Wolfs, Peter; Szanto, Frank; Sun, Yan Quan; Cole, Colin; Nielsen, Dwayne

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A novel design for heavy haul locomotive equipped with a flywheel energy storage system is proposed. • The integrated intelligent traction control system was developed. • A flywheel energy storage system has been tested through a simulation process. • The developed hybrid system was verified using an existing heavy haul railway route. • Fuel efficiency analysis confirms advantages of the hybrid design. - Abstract: At the present time, trains in heavy haul operations are typically hauled by several diesel-electric locomotives coupled in a multiple unit. This paper studies the case of a typical consist of three Co–Co diesel-electric locomotives, and considers replacing one unit with an alternative version, with the same design parameters, except that the diesel-electric plant is replaced with flywheel energy storage equipment. The intelligent traction and energy control system installed in this unit is integrated into the multiple-unit control to allow redistribution of the power between all units. In order to verify the proposed design, a three-stage investigation has been performed as described in this paper. The initial stage studies a possible configuration of the flywheel energy storage system by detailed modelling of the proposed intelligent traction and energy control system. The second stage includes the investigation and estimation of possible energy flows using a longitudinal train dynamics simulation. The final stage compares the conventional and the proposed locomotive configurations considering two parameters: fuel efficiency and emissions reduction.

Intermodal transportation of spent fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elder, H.K.

1983-09-01

Concepts for transportation of spent fuel in rail casks from nuclear power plant sites with no rail service are under consideration by the US Department of Energy in the Commercial Spent Fuel Management program at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory. This report identifies and evaluates three alternative systems for intermodal transfer of spent fuel: heavy-haul truck to rail, barge to rail, and barge to heavy-haul truck. This report concludes that, with some modifications and provisions for new equipment, existing rail and marine systems can provide a transportation base for the intermodal transfer of spent fuel to federal interim storage facilities. Some needed land transportation support and loading and unloading equipment does not currently exist. There are insufficient shipping casks available at this time, but the industrial capability to meet projected needs appears adequate

Conceptual engineering design studies of 1985-era commercial VTOL and STOL transports that utilize rotors

Science.gov (United States)

Magee, J. P.; Clark, R. D.; Widdison, C. A.

1975-01-01

Conceptual design studies are summarized of tandem-rotor helicopter and tilt-rotor aircraft for a short haul transport mission in the 1985 time frame. Vertical takeoff designs of both configurations are discussed, and the impact of external noise criteria on the vehicle designs, performance, and costs are shown. A STOL design for the tilt-rotor configuration is reported, and the effect of removing the vertical takeoff design constraints on the design parameters, fuel economy, and operating cost is discussed.

Improvement of the mining technology with the ring movement scheme of the haul trucks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Slobodyanyuk R.V.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The article describes the designed technology that allows to expand the use of the haul truck ring movement scheme and to reduce the share of an empty run time in the transportation cycle. A preliminary calculation of the efficiency of its usage has allowed to confirm the main advantages of this scheme over the existing one as follows: reducing the required number of transport for the needs of open-pit mine operation by increasing the productivity of mining trucks; decreasing the transport operating costs (some part of an empty truck movement occurs when the engine is switched off; dropping the probability of accidents (reduced a number of the counter transport maneuvers. The calculation showed the regularity of changes in the efficiency using the alternative scheme in relation to the basic one, which reflecting significantly higher effectiveness in situations with a smaller distance between the empty run sites of the ring scheme.

75 FR 35033 - U-Haul International, Inc. and AMERCO; Analysis of Agreement Containing Consent Order to Aid...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-21

... closest competitor in the consumer truck rental industry to join with U-Haul in a collusive scheme to...-Haul International, Inc. U-Haul's primary competitors in the truck rental industry are Avis Budget... several years leading up to 2006, Mr. Shoen was aware that price competition from Budget was forcing U...

Consistent haul road condition monitoring by means of vehicle response normalisation with Gaussian processes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Heyns, T

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Suboptimal haul road management policies such as routine, periodic and urgent maintenance may result in unnecessary cost, both to roads and vehicles. A recent idea is to continually access haul road condition based on measured vehicle response...

Transpirational drying and costs for transporting woody biomass - a preliminary review

Science.gov (United States)

Bryce J. Stokes; Bryce J. McDonaStokes; Timothy P. McDonald; Tyrone Kelley

1993-01-01

High transport costs arc a factor to consider in the use of forest residues for fuel. Costs can be reduced by increasing haul capacities, reducing high moisture contents, and improving trucking efficiency. The literature for transpirational drying and the economics of hauling woody biomass is summarized here. Some additional, unpublished roundwood and chipdrying test...

Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN) - Live Hauling of Fish

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and...

Un-ionized Ammonia (UIA) - Live Hauling of Fish

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and...

Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis: An under-recognised cause of short stature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E G Lemire

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Short stature is a frequent presenting problem in the pediatric population. Various causes including endocrinopathies, skeletal dysplasias, dysmorphic syndromes and malabsorption have been implicated. In girls with short stature, Turner syndrome is frequently considered in the differential diagnosis and can easily be ruled out with chromosome analysis. However, it is not uncommon for a child to have no identifiable cause of their short stature. ?FOR Advances in the field of genetics have estimated that about 2% of idiopathic short stature is related to haploinsufficiency of the Short stature homeobox (SHOX gene, which is found on the short arm of the X and Y chromosomes in the pseudoautosomal region. Heterozygous carriers of SHOX mutations may be minimally affected or may present with disproportionate short stature, Madelung deformity and other radiographic findings as in Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD. In this article, we report on a 14-year old girl with mesomelic short stature and bilateral Madelung deformities caused by LWD and describe the radiographic findings.

Municipal consultation key to understanding haul road maintenance agreements for Saskatchewan rural municipalities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leibel, R.E.A.

1998-01-01

Current municipal perspectives regarding the oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan were described. Municipal jurisdiction and authority regarding road development and heavy haul road maintenance agreements were defined. Based on actual work experience, collaborative working relationships between the oil and gas industry and the municipal sector is well worth some industry time and effort since it will result in cost savings for the industry. In general, rural municipalities receive very limited tax benefits to recapture the costs of road reconstruction and maintenance caused by heavy industry traffic. Road servicing costs can be recaptured only if companies respect the weight limits, hauling regulations and road bans. On the whole, municipalities in Saskatchewan are favourably disposed towards the oil and gas industry, and have done well in the past to accommodate industry's needs. It is not unreasonable therefore to expect that industry show sensitivity to the impact of its activities on the local municipality, and does its level best to be on good terms with the municipalities through early two-way communication. Text of some relevant acts of the Legislature respecting the powers and authorities of rural municipalities are appended

Fuels planning: science synthesis and integration; economic uses fact sheet 02: log hauling cost

Science.gov (United States)

Rocky Mountain Research Station USDA Forest Service

2004-01-01

Knowing the cost of fuel reduction treatments and associated activities, such as hauling cut trees, is essential for fire and fuels planning. This fact sheet explores the main factors that determine the cost of hauling cut trees and points the user to an interactive tool that can help plan for those and other expenses.

The Economic Effect of Competition in the Air Transportation Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbard, H. B.

1972-01-01

The air transportation industry has been described as a highly-competitive, regulated oligopoly or as a price-regulated cartel with blocked entry, resulting in excessive service and low load factors. The current structure of the industry has been strongly influenced by the hypotheses that increased levels of competition are desirable per se, and that more competing carriers can be economically supported in larger markets, in longer haul markets, with lower unit costs, and with higher fare levels. An elementary application of competition/game theory casts doubt on the validity of these hypotheses, but rather emphasizes the critical importance of the short-term non-variable costs in determining economic levels of competition.

Commodification of Religious Tradition: Critical Study on Religious Tradition Tourism Haul at Pasar Kliwon Surakarta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Ferri Setiawan

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The policy on tourism development program of Surakarta especially on the calendar of the event takes advantage from religious tradition as tourism commodity. The purpose of this study is to describe the religious tradition haul, the programs by the tourism department of Surakarta, and how commodification through a well implemented marketing communications process, messaging, and other media, as well as responses from the audience regarding the marketing of haul tradition in general toward creating a leading tourism object. Haul which is a tradition for commemorating the death of clerics (ulama who are followed by some local communities in Surakarta, especially those in Pasar Kliwon Regency, is utilized in tourism. Through critical study, the cultural values that are supposed to be preserved, changed into marketing values to attract visitors. The used media are the advertisement and the calendar of events. The local community gain advantages economically from this policy, but they object to it socio-culturally. Meanwhile, the tourists are generally interested in haul tradition.

Factors affecting driver alertness during the operation of haul trucks in the South African mining industry

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Schutte, PC

2003-06-01

Full Text Available In view of the seriousness of haul trucks accidents, SIMRAC initiated research to identify factors affecting haul truck driver alertness during mining operations. The information obtained during the risk analysis was used to identify possible...

Aerial surveys of seals at Rødsand seal sanctuary and adjacent haul-out sites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Teilmann, J.; Dietz, R.; Edren, Susi M.C.

This report describes the preliminary results of aerial surveys at Rødsand seal sanctuary, southeast Denmark and adjacent seal haul-out sites in southwestern Baltic. The work was carried out in connection with studies of potential effects of the Nysted offshore wind farm. Rødsand seal sanctuary...... is a part of seal management area 4, and the area is believed to hold a more or less closed population with little exchange to other areas. Although the harbour seal is relatively stationary there may be movements between the haul-out sites in the area. A possible reaction to disturbance from...... the construction and operation of the wind farm may be that the seals use other haul-out sites to a higher extend....

INFLUENCE ANALYSIS OF ELASTIC DEFORMATIONS OF THE TRACK CABLE ON EFFORTS IN THE HAULING ROPE OF AERIAL ROPEWAY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Raksha

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To estimate influence of elastic deformations of the track cable arising at movement of cars, on effort in a hauling rope of the aerial ropeway. Methodology. The method of consecutive approaches was used for research influence of elastic deformations of a track cable on effort in a hauling rope. Thus, definition of a tension of a track cable was carried out with use of the technique based on principles of modular configuration, the essence of which consists in formation of mathematical model by a combination of blocks of the formulas describing balance of the track cable on supports. Findings. The research has shown that influence of elastic deformations of a track cable on effort in a hauling rope was insignificant (less than 1 %. That points to possibility not to consider change of the track cable length, caused by its elastic properties, when modeling loading of elements of system «drive – traction rope – tension device». Also it has been found that use of the tension device of a track cable increased influence of its elastic properties on loading of rope system elements. At the same time the elastic component of the track cable tension in the test flight does not depend on a car position in the adjacent span, but only determines by the parameters of the rope system. Originality. The possibility of excluding the changes of track cable length caused by its elastic properties, when modeling loading of elements of system «drive – traction rope – tension device» was proved. Practical value. The use of these techniques and the results will simplify the mathematical model of loading of elements of the cable system and the system «drive – traction rope – tension device» as a whole.

Factors Affecting Haul-Out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina in Tidewater Glacier Inlets in Alaska: Can Tourism Vessels and Seals Coexist?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gail M Blundell

Full Text Available Large numbers of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina use habitat in tidewater glaciers in Alaska for pupping, breeding, and molting. Glacial fjords are also popular tourist destinations; however, visitation by numerous vessels can result in disturbance of seals during critical life-history phases. We explored factors affecting haul-out behavior of harbor seals at a glacial site frequented by tourism vessels. In 2008-10, we deployed VHF transmitters on 107 seals in Endicott Arm, Alaska. We remotely monitored presence and haul-out behavior of tagged seals and documented vessel presence with time-lapse cameras. We evaluated the influence of environmental and physical factors on the probability of being hauled out, duration of haul-out bouts, and as factors associated with the start and end of a haulout. Location, season, hour, and interactions of location by year, season, hour, and sex significantly influenced haul-out probability, as did ice, weather, and vessels. Seals were more likely to be hauled out with greater ice availability during the middle of the day, and less likely to be hauled out if vessels were present. Cruise ships had the strongest negative effect; however, most vessel types negatively affected haul-out probability. Haul-out duration was longest in association with starting on incoming tides, clear skies, no precipitation, occurring in the middle of the day, and ending in the late afternoon or evening. End of haulouts was associated with increasing cloud cover, low ice availability, and vessel presence; large-sized tourism vessels or all-vessel-types combined were significant predictors of ending a haul-out bout. Probability of being hauled out was highest in June, during pupping season. Potential disturbances of harbor seals could be reduced, enabling longer resting times for seals and fewer interruptions for nursing pups, if vessels focused the majority of visits to glacial habitat to before or after the hours of 08:00-17:00 or, less

Factors Affecting Haul-Out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Tidewater Glacier Inlets in Alaska: Can Tourism Vessels and Seals Coexist?

Science.gov (United States)

Blundell, Gail M; Pendleton, Grey W

2015-01-01

Large numbers of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) use habitat in tidewater glaciers in Alaska for pupping, breeding, and molting. Glacial fjords are also popular tourist destinations; however, visitation by numerous vessels can result in disturbance of seals during critical life-history phases. We explored factors affecting haul-out behavior of harbor seals at a glacial site frequented by tourism vessels. In 2008-10, we deployed VHF transmitters on 107 seals in Endicott Arm, Alaska. We remotely monitored presence and haul-out behavior of tagged seals and documented vessel presence with time-lapse cameras. We evaluated the influence of environmental and physical factors on the probability of being hauled out, duration of haul-out bouts, and as factors associated with the start and end of a haulout. Location, season, hour, and interactions of location by year, season, hour, and sex significantly influenced haul-out probability, as did ice, weather, and vessels. Seals were more likely to be hauled out with greater ice availability during the middle of the day, and less likely to be hauled out if vessels were present. Cruise ships had the strongest negative effect; however, most vessel types negatively affected haul-out probability. Haul-out duration was longest in association with starting on incoming tides, clear skies, no precipitation, occurring in the middle of the day, and ending in the late afternoon or evening. End of haulouts was associated with increasing cloud cover, low ice availability, and vessel presence; large-sized tourism vessels or all-vessel-types combined were significant predictors of ending a haul-out bout. Probability of being hauled out was highest in June, during pupping season. Potential disturbances of harbor seals could be reduced, enabling longer resting times for seals and fewer interruptions for nursing pups, if vessels focused the majority of visits to glacial habitat to before or after the hours of 08:00-17:00 or, less optimally, 09:00-16:00.

On achievable rates for long-haul fiber-optic communications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fehenberger, T.; Alvarado, A.; Bayvel, P.; Hanik, N.

2015-01-01

Lower bounds on mutual information (MI) of long-haul optical fiber systems for hard-decision and soft-decision decoding are studied. Ready-to-use expressions to calculate the MI are presented. Extensive numerical simulations are used to quantify how changes in the optical transmitter, receiver, and

Happiness and limits to sustainable tourism mobility: a new conceptual model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ram, Y.; Nawijn, J.; Peeters, P.M.

2013-01-01

Current leisure mobility patterns are not sustainable. Because energy efficiency measures appear insufficient to accommodate predicted future volume growth, changes in transportation modes and volume are needed. Short-haul should be the preferred distance, public transportation the preferred mode

A neural network driving curve generation method for the heavy-haul train

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youneng Huang

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The heavy-haul train has a series of characteristics, such as the locomotive traction properties, the longer length of train, and the nonlinear train pipe pressure during train braking. When the train is running on a continuous long and steep downgrade railway line, the safety of the train is ensured by cycle braking, which puts high demands on the driving skills of the driver. In this article, a driving curve generation method for the heavy-haul train based on a neural network is proposed. First, in order to describe the nonlinear characteristics of train braking, the neural network model is constructed and trained by practical driving data. In the neural network model, various nonlinear neurons are interconnected to work for information processing and transmission. The target value of train braking pressure reduction and release time is achieved by modeling the braking process. The equation of train motion is computed to obtain the driving curve. Finally, in four typical operation scenarios, comparing the curve data generated by the method with corresponding practical data of the Shuohuang heavy-haul railway line, the results show that the method is effective.

MCDA APPLIED TO PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF SHORT-HAUL TRUCK DRIVERS: A CASE STUDY IN A PORTUGUESE TRUCKING COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel Morte

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Performance appraisal increasingly assumes a more important role in any organizational environment. In the trucking industry, drivers are the company's image and for this reason it is important to develop and increase their performance and commitment to the company's goals. This paper aims to create a performance appraisal model for trucking drivers, based on a multi-criteria decision aid methodology. The PROMETHEE and MMASSI methodologies were adapted using the criteria used for performance appraisal by the trucking company studied. The appraisal involved all the truck drivers, their supervisors and the company's Managing Director. The final output is a ranking of the drivers, based on their performance, for each one of the scenarios used. The results are to be used as a decision-making tool to allocate drivers to the domestic haul service.

Establishment and verification of three-dimensional dynamic model for heavy-haul train-track coupled system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Pengfei; Zhai, Wanming; Wang, Kaiyun

2016-11-01

For the long heavy-haul train, the basic principles of the inter-vehicle interaction and train-track dynamic interaction are analysed firstly. Based on the theories of train longitudinal dynamics and vehicle-track coupled dynamics, a three-dimensional (3-D) dynamic model of the heavy-haul train-track coupled system is established through a modularised method. Specifically, this model includes the subsystems such as the train control, the vehicle, the wheel-rail relation and the line geometries. And for the calculation of the wheel-rail interaction force under the driving or braking conditions, the large creep phenomenon that may occur within the wheel-rail contact patch is considered. For the coupler and draft gear system, the coupler forces in three directions and the coupler lateral tilt angles in curves are calculated. Then, according to the characteristics of the long heavy-haul train, an efficient solving method is developed to improve the computational efficiency for such a large system. Some basic principles which should be followed in order to meet the requirement of calculation accuracy are determined. Finally, the 3-D train-track coupled model is verified by comparing the calculated results with the running test results. It is indicated that the proposed dynamic model could simulate the dynamic performance of the heavy-haul train well.

Analysis of Freight Transport Strategies and Methodologies [summary

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

Transportation planners constantly examine traffic flows to see if current roadway layouts are serving traffic needs. For freight hauling, this presents one issue on the open road, but a much different issue as these large vehicles approach their des...

Optical strain measurement for fault detection in haul-truck tires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotchon, A; Nobes, D S; Lipsett, M G

2012-01-01

Tire condition is integral to the safe operation of heavy machinery, such as ultra-class haul trucks. A new approach to haul truck tire monitoring is being investigated based on optical strain measurement, which has the advantage of providing quantitative information from sensors that do not contact the tire. A laboratory-scale apparatus has been constructed to monitor a tire as it is subjected to various loads and pressures. Digital image correlation is used to calculate the deformation in the tire. Using this method, damage resulting from a horizontal and vertical cut created on the tire surface could be detected. A three-dimensional surface reconstruction of the tire was created to assist in the characterization of more complex damage types such as wear and fatigue. In addition to providing information for a possible industrial scale damage detection system, this apparatus will also further the understanding of damage mechanisms in tires.

26 CFR 1.4-4 - Short taxable year caused by death.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Short taxable year caused by death. 1.4-4 Section... Normal Taxes and Surtaxes § 1.4-4 Short taxable year caused by death. An individual making a return for a... results from the death of the taxpayer. Tax on Corporations ...

Projection-based circular constrained state estimation and fusion over long-haul links

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Qiang [ORNL; Rao, Nageswara S. [ORNL

2017-07-01

In this paper, we consider a scenario where sensors are deployed over a large geographical area for tracking a target with circular nonlinear constraints on its motion dynamics. The sensor state estimates are sent over long-haul networks to a remote fusion center for fusion. We are interested in different ways to incorporate the constraints into the estimation and fusion process in the presence of communication loss. In particular, we consider closed-form projection-based solutions, including rules for fusing the estimates and for incorporating the constraints, which jointly can guarantee timely fusion often required in realtime systems. We test the performance of these methods in the long-haul tracking environment using a simple example.

Predictors of severe trunk postures among short-haul truck drivers during non-driving tasks: an exploratory investigation involving video-assessment and driver behavioural self-monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, R; Hahn, D I; Buckert, A

2009-06-01

Short-haul truck (lorry) drivers are particularly vulnerable to back pain and injury due to exposure to whole body vibration, prolonged sitting and demanding material handling tasks. The current project reports the results of video-based assessments (711 stops) and driver behavioural self-monitoring (BSM) (385 stops) of injury hazards during non-driving work. Participants (n = 3) worked in a trailer fitted with a camera system during baseline and BSM phases. Descriptive analyses showed that challenging customer environments and non-standard ingress/egress were prevalent. Statistical modelling of video-assessment results showed that each instance of manual material handling increased the predicted mean for severe trunk postures by 7%, while customer use of a forklift, moving standard pallets and moving non-standard pallets decreased predicted means by 12%, 20% and 22% respectively. Video and BSM comparisons showed that drivers were accurate at self-monitoring frequent environmental conditions, but less accurate at monitoring trunk postures and rare work events. The current study identified four predictors of severe trunk postures that can be modified to reduce risk of injury among truck drivers and showed that workers can produce reliable self-assessment data with BSM methods for frequent and easily discriminated events environmental.

An exploratory study of long-haul truck drivers' secondary tasks and reasons for performing them.

Science.gov (United States)

Iseland, Tobias; Johansson, Emma; Skoog, Siri; Dåderman, Anna M

2018-08-01

Research on drivers has shown how certain visual-manual secondary tasks, unrelated to driving, increase the risk of being involved in crashes. The purpose of the study was to investigate (1) if long-haul truck drivers in Sweden engage in secondary tasks while driving, what tasks are performed and how frequently, (2) the drivers' self-perceived reason/s for performing them, and (3) if psychological factors might reveal reasons for their engaging in secondary tasks. The study comprised 13 long-haul truck drivers and was conducted through observations, interviews, and questionnaires. The drivers performed secondary tasks, such as work environment related "necessities" (e.g., getting food and/or beverages from the refrigerator/bag, eating, drinking, removing a jacket, face rubbing, and adjusting the seat), interacting with a mobile phone/in-truck technology, and doing administrative tasks. The long-haul truck drivers feel bored and use secondary tasks as a coping strategy to alleviate boredom/drowsiness, and for social interaction. The higher number of performed secondary tasks could be explained by lower age, shorter driver experience, less openness to experience, lower honesty-humility, lower perceived stress, lower workload, and by higher health-related quality of life. These explanatory results may serve as a starting point for further studies on large samples to develop a safer and healthier environment for long-haul truck drivers. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Sleeper Cab Climate Control Load Reduction for Long-Haul Truck Rest Period Idling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lustbader, J. A.; Kreutzer, C.; Adelman, S.; Yeakel, S.; Zehme, J.

2015-04-29

Annual fuel use for long-haul truck rest period idling is estimated at 667 million gallons in the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s CoolCab project aims to reduce heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) loads and resulting fuel use from rest period idling by working closely with industry to design efficient long-haul truck climate control systems while maintaining occupant comfort. Enhancing the thermal performance of cab/sleepers will enable smaller, lighter, and more cost-effective idle reduction solutions. In order for candidate idle reduction technologies to be implemented at the original equipment manufacturer and fleet level, their effectiveness must be quantified. To address this need, a number of promising candidate technologies were evaluated through experimentation and modeling to determine their effectiveness in reducing rest period HVAC loads. For this study, load reduction strategies were grouped into the focus areas of solar envelope, occupant environment, and conductive pathways. The technologies selected for a complete-cab package of technologies were “ultra-white” paint, advanced insulation, and advanced curtains. To measure the impact of these technologies, a nationally-averaged solar-weighted reflectivity long-haul truck paint color was determined and applied to the baseline test vehicle. Using the complete-cab package of technologies, electrical energy consumption for long-haul truck daytime rest period air conditioning was reduced by at least 35% for summer weather conditions in Colorado. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's CoolCalc model was then used to extrapolate the performance of the thermal load reduction technologies nationally for 161 major U.S. cities using typical weather conditions for each location over an entire year.

Golay sequences coded coherent optical OFDM for long-haul transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Cui; Ma, Xiangrong; Hua, Tao; Zhao, Jing; Yu, Huilong; Zhang, Jian

2017-09-01

We propose to use binary Golay sequences in coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) to improve the long-haul transmission performance. The Golay sequences are generated by binary Reed-Muller codes, which have low peak-to-average power ratio and certain error correction capability. A low-complexity decoding algorithm for the Golay sequences is then proposed to recover the signal. Under same spectral efficiency, the QPSK modulated OFDM with binary Golay sequences coding with and without discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spreading (DFTS-QPSK-GOFDM and QPSK-GOFDM) are compared with the normal BPSK modulated OFDM with and without DFT spreading (DFTS-BPSK-OFDM and BPSK-OFDM) after long-haul transmission. At a 7% forward error correction code threshold (Q2 factor of 8.5 dB), it is shown that DFTS-QPSK-GOFDM outperforms DFTS-BPSK-OFDM by extending the transmission distance by 29% and 18%, in non-dispersion managed and dispersion managed links, respectively.

The Impact of Specialized Hauling Vehicles on Pavement and Bridge Deterioration

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

This research study was performed to ensure that Texas complies with a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) memo dated November 15, 2013, which requires each state to certify that it either does not permit operation of specialized hauling vehicles (...

Trapping and transportation of adult and juvenile salmon in the lower Umatilla River in northeast Oregon, 1996-1997. Umatilla River Basin Trap and Haul Program. Annual progress report, October 1996 - September 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimmerman, B.; Duke, B.B.

1997-09-01

Threemile Falls Dam (Threemile Dam), located near the town of Umatilla, is the major collection and counting point for adult salmonids returning to the Umatilla River. Returning salmon and steelhead were collected at Threemile Dam from August 30, 1996 to August 26, 1997. A total of 2,477 summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss); 646 adult, 80 jack, and 606 subjack fall chinook (O. tshawytscha); 618 adult and 24 jack coho (O. kisutch); and 2,194 adult and four jack spring chinook (O. tshawytscha) were collected. All fish were trapped at the east bank facility. Of the fish collected, 22 summer steelhead; 18 adult and two jack fall chinook; five adult coho; and 407 adult and three jack spring chinook were hauled upstream from Threemile Dam. There were 2,245 summer steelhead; 70 adult, 51 jack and 520 subjack fall chinook; 593 adult and 24 jack coho; and 1,130 adult spring chinook released at Threemile Dam I In addition, 110 summer steelhead; 551 adult and 25 jack fall chinook; and 600 adult spring chinook were collected for broodstock. The Westland Canal juvenile facility (Westland), located near the town of Echo at rivermile (RM) 27, is the major collection point for outmigrating juvenile salmonids and steelhead kelts, The canal was open for a total of 210 days between December 16, 1996 and July 30, 1997. During that period, fish were bypassed back to the river 175 days and were trapped on 35 days, An estimated 1,675 pounds of juvenile fish were transported from Westland to the Umatilla River boat ramp (RM 0.5), Approximately 80% of the juveniles transported were salmonids, No steelhead kelts were hauled from Westland this year. The Threemile Dam west bank juvenile bypass was operated from October 4 to November 1, 1996 and from March 26 to July 7, 1997. The juvenile trap was not operated this year. 6 refs., 6 figs., 6 tabs

Fault tolerant computer control for a Maglev transportation system

Science.gov (United States)

Lala, Jaynarayan H.; Nagle, Gail A.; Anagnostopoulos, George

1994-01-01

Magnetically levitated (Maglev) vehicles operating on dedicated guideways at speeds of 500 km/hr are an emerging transportation alternative to short-haul air and high-speed rail. They have the potential to offer a service significantly more dependable than air and with less operating cost than both air and high-speed rail. Maglev transportation derives these benefits by using magnetic forces to suspend a vehicle 8 to 200 mm above the guideway. Magnetic forces are also used for propulsion and guidance. The combination of high speed, short headways, stringent ride quality requirements, and a distributed offboard propulsion system necessitates high levels of automation for the Maglev control and operation. Very high levels of safety and availability will be required for the Maglev control system. This paper describes the mission scenario, functional requirements, and dependability and performance requirements of the Maglev command, control, and communications system. A distributed hierarchical architecture consisting of vehicle on-board computers, wayside zone computers, a central computer facility, and communication links between these entities was synthesized to meet the functional and dependability requirements on the maglev. Two variations of the basic architecture are described: the Smart Vehicle Architecture (SVA) and the Zone Control Architecture (ZCA). Preliminary dependability modeling results are also presented.

Magneto-transport studies of InAs/GaSb short period superlattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broadley, Victoria Jane

2002-01-01

This thesis studies the transport properties of short period semiconducting InAs/GaSb superlattices in the presence of strong electric and magnetic fields applied parallel to the growth axis. Electrical transport parallel to the growth axis occurs through the superlattice miniband, which have widths varying from three to 30meV. Resonant scattering between confined Landau levels and Stark levels is observed at low temperatures (4.2K). In addition LO-phonon assisted scattering between Landau levels is observed in both type-I GaAs/AIAs and type-ll inAs/GaSb superlattices, which are enhanced in the type-ll system due to the strong interband coupling. K·p band structure calculations show that the interband coupling causes the superlattice miniband energy dispersion to be strongly dependent on the in-plane wavevector and the applied magnetic field. For large applied electric fields, where the miniband is split into discrete Stark levels, strong stark-cyclotron resonance (SCR) features are observed, which occur when the Landau level separation equals to the stark level separation. These resonances are enhanced when compared to SCR in type-I superlattices due to the suppression of miniband conduction in higher lying Landau levels. At low electric fields electrical transport through the superlattice miniband yields characteristic miniband transport features, which are modelled using the Esaki-Tsu miniband transport model. Strong electron - LO-phonon scattering is also observed in InAs/GaSb superlattices, where we report the first observation of miniband transport assisted via the emission of LO-phonons between stark levels in adjacent wells. Below 50K thermally activated behaviour is reported and at high magnetic fields (in the quantum limit) complete localisation of carriers is observed. In this regime LO-phonon delocalised transport in also observed. (author)

A New Method for Haul Road Design in Open-Pit Mines to Support Efficient Truck Haulage Operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jieun Baek

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The design of a haul road for an open-pit mine can significantly affect the cost associated with hauling ore and waste to the surface. This study proposes a new method for haul road design in open-pit mines to support efficient truck haulage operations. The road layout in open-pit mines was optimized by using raster-based least-cost path analysis, and the resulting zigzag road sections were simplified by applying the Douglas-Peucker algorithm. In addition, the road layout was modified by reflecting the radius of curvature suggested in the road design guides. Finally, a three-dimensional model reflecting the results of the road design was created by combining the road layout modification result with the slope of the open-pit mine and the bench design result. The application of the proposed method to an area containing gold deposits made it possible to design a haul road for open-pit mines such that it supported efficient truck haulage operations; furthermore, the time required for truck movement along the road could be estimated. The proposed method is expected to be useful for planning and designing open-pit mines and to facilitate the improvement of the road design function of existing mining software applications.

Workplace violence in long haul trucking: occupational health nursing update.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Debra Gay

2004-01-01

Almost 2 million workdays and millions of dollars are lost annually because of non-fatal assaults suffered at the workplace (NIOSH, 1996). Twenty workers, on average, are murdered each week in the United States and an estimated 18,000 workers per week are victims of non-fatal assault (NIOSH, 2001). Violence and stress are two interrelated issues that affect the work force. In-depth studies of these issues have not been conducted with long haul truckers in general, or with women in non-traditional, male dominated fields such as the long haul trucking industry. Epidemiological data related to violence and stress experienced by these under-studied populations are needed to plan effective interventions to reduce occupational risks. Studies employing both qualitative and quantitative methods are needed to articulate risk and protective factors related to violence against workers (Runyan, 2001). Occupational health nurses are qualified to participate in the development and implementation of research and intervention studies to improve worker safety related to violence at the workplace for men and women in both traditional and non-traditional occupational roles.

Reducing environmental damages caused by transportation: towards an heterodox approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marletto, Gerardo

2006-01-01

According to orthodox economics, monetary incentives are the best way to reduce environmental damages caused by transportation. This approach is consistent with the consideration of environmental damages as a market failure and with the use of pigouvian taxes to re-establish market equilibrium. Using heterodox economics both the theoretical and the policy approach will change radically. Indeed, market is just one of the structural components of the existing transport system; others being: institutions, technologies, values. Then, a shift in policy approaches is needed: from the orthodox efficient allocation of existing resources, to the heterodox promotion of new development patterns, needed to alter the given structural situation. Consistently with this paradigmatic shift, environmental damages caused by transportation can be reduced only by making the transition to a new transport system viable. Moreover, an heterodox approach to the reduction of environmental damages caused by transportation gives rise to a sound revision of policy tools; among these must be considered: selective industrial policies to foster the ecological reconversion of transport supply (instead of a non-discriminatory support to ecological innovations); participatory decision procedures to evaluate and select transport policies (instead of neutral technical tools - such as Cba or Eia); information campaigns based on ethical considerations (instead of economic incentives to transport demand); attribution of the status of commons to environmental resources, in order to protect them from the free riding of transport activities (instead of the attribution to them of private property rights). This essay is composed of four parts. In the first one, some data on environmental damages caused by transportation in Italy are shown. In the second one, orthodox and heterodox paradigms of public interventions in the economy are compared, with a specific attention to environmental applications. In the

Vibration Monitoring of a Large Scale Heavy Haul Railway Viaduct

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Busatta Fulvio

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In South Africa, heavy haul railway transport was introduced in the mid-1970s for the Iron Ore and the Coal Export lines. In recent decades, the expansion of existing mines, new markets and the competition of iron ore- and coal-exporting countries have led owners and operators to progressively increase the capacity of the export lines. On the one hand, operational efficiencies have been improved; on the other hand, a significant increase of the rail traffic has been experienced. Thus, bridges along the export lines are now crossed by heavier and longer trains with more frequent train passages than in the past. Increasing train loading might lead to significant consequences on structures such as dynamic amplifications and reduction of service life due to fatigue. Hence dynamic assessment and monitoring of the structural condition of bridges under actual train loading are becoming more relevant to support decision making processes. The paper presents the investigations carried out on the Olifants River Viaduct, a critical structure along the Iron Ore Export Line, in order to implement a state-of-the-art vibration monitoring system.

Development and Testing of Intelligent Alcohol Transportation Security System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Velaphi Msomi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The development and testing of intelligent liquid transportation security system are being reported in this paper. The targeted fluid to be secured was ethanol alcohol and this was due to the theft cases occurring during the transportation of this product from the supplier to the customer. The system was developed such that only the radar level sensor (VEGAPULS 62 might be in contact with the fluid and the rest of the system remained outside the liquid carrying container to be secured. The system was developed such that it reports any abnormal liquid level drop through short message service (SMS. The functioning of the developed system was tested through the use of 1040 L Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC filled with water which was hauled for about 1.5 km. The liquid theft was simulated and the system sent two SMS. The first SMS reported the beginning of water level drop and the second one reported the ending of water level drop. The second SMS reported the amount of liquid that was taken out of the container.

Capacity-Approaching Modulation Formats for Optical Transmission Systems: Signal shaping and advanced de/muxing for efficient resource exploitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Estaran Tolosa, Jose Manuel

Aiming for efficient fiber-optic data transport, this thesis addresses three scenario-specific modulation and/or multiplexing techniques which, leveraging digital signal processing, can further exploit the available resources.The considered environments are: (i) (ultra) long-haul networks, where we...... focus on improving the receiver sensitivity; (ii) metropolitan area networks, where the target is providing spectral and rate adaptability with fine granularity and easy reconfigurability; and (iii) short-haul networks, where facilitating more affordable throughput scaling is pursued. Functioning...

The effect of a large Danish offshore wind farm on harbor and grey seal haul-out behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edrén, Susi Manuela Clermont; Andersen, Signe May; Teilmann, Jonas

2010-01-01

This study investigates the effects of the construction and operation of a large Danish offshore wind farm on harbor and gray seal haul-out behavior within a nearby (4 km) seal sanctuary. Time-lapse photography, visual monitoring, and aerial surveys were used to monitor the number of seals on land...... in daylight hours. Seals were monitored during two preconstruction periods (19 June–31 August 2001 and April–August 2002), a construction period of the wind farm (August 2002–December 2003), and a period of operation of the wind farm (December 2003–December 2004). Monthly aerial surveys were conducted...... to estimate the proportion of seals in the sanctuary relative to neighboring haul-out sites. From preconstruction to construction and through the first year of operation the number of harbor seals in the sanctuary increased at the same rate as the number of seals at the neighboring haul-out sites. No long...

Haul truck tire dynamics due to tire condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anzabi, R Vaghar; Nobes, D S; Lipsett, M G

2012-01-01

Pneumatic tires are costly components on large off-road haul trucks used in surface mining operations. Tires are prone to damage during operation, and these events can lead to injuries to personnel, loss of equipment, and reduced productivity. Damage rates have significant variability, due to operating conditions and a range of tire fault modes. Currently, monitoring of tire condition is done by physical inspection; and the mean time between inspections is often longer than the mean time between incipient failure and functional failure of the tire. Options for new condition monitoring methods include off-board thermal imaging and camera-based optical methods for detecting abnormal deformation and surface features, as well as on-board sensors to detect tire faults during vehicle operation. Physics-based modeling of tire dynamics can provide a good understanding of the tire behavior, and give insight into observability requirements for improved monitoring systems. This paper describes a model to simulate the dynamics of haul truck tires when a fault is present to determine the effects of physical parameter changes that relate to faults. To simulate the dynamics, a lumped mass 'quarter-vehicle' model has been used to determine the response of the system to a road profile when a failure changes the original properties of the tire. The result is a model of tire vertical displacement that can be used to detect a fault, which will be tested under field conditions in time-varying conditions.

Haul truck tire dynamics due to tire condition

Science.gov (United States)

Vaghar Anzabi, R.; Nobes, D. S.; Lipsett, M. G.

2012-05-01

Pneumatic tires are costly components on large off-road haul trucks used in surface mining operations. Tires are prone to damage during operation, and these events can lead to injuries to personnel, loss of equipment, and reduced productivity. Damage rates have significant variability, due to operating conditions and a range of tire fault modes. Currently, monitoring of tire condition is done by physical inspection; and the mean time between inspections is often longer than the mean time between incipient failure and functional failure of the tire. Options for new condition monitoring methods include off-board thermal imaging and camera-based optical methods for detecting abnormal deformation and surface features, as well as on-board sensors to detect tire faults during vehicle operation. Physics-based modeling of tire dynamics can provide a good understanding of the tire behavior, and give insight into observability requirements for improved monitoring systems. This paper describes a model to simulate the dynamics of haul truck tires when a fault is present to determine the effects of physical parameter changes that relate to faults. To simulate the dynamics, a lumped mass 'quarter-vehicle' model has been used to determine the response of the system to a road profile when a failure changes the original properties of the tire. The result is a model of tire vertical displacement that can be used to detect a fault, which will be tested under field conditions in time-varying conditions.

Short-run Economic Assessment of the Transportation Recovery Policy After an Earthquake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koike Atsushi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper develops a short-run economic damage assessment model. The model contains two sub models. One is the conventional traffic assignment model, which calculates traveling time under the damaged transportation infrastructure. The other is the economic damage assessment model, which determines the decrease in production level in the short run. This method facilitates the identification of critical infrastructure that could reduce the economic damage when the disaster occurs. As a case study, we applied this model to several recovery plans for transport facilities. The results suggest that the proposed comprehensive model should be considered as a prevention plan.

The potential role of maglev in short-haul airline operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, L.R.

1991-01-01

Intercity travel is predominately by commercial air transport. However, airports are becoming increasingly congested at a time when there is often substantial local opposition to the expansion of airport infrastructure because of the environmental impacts. This paper explores the potential for integrating high-speed maglev systems into the airport infrastructure, but more importantly into airline operations. 7 refs., 2 figs.

Impact of Paint Color on Rest Period Climate Control Loads in Long-Haul Trucks: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lustbader, J.; Kreutzer, C.; Jeffers, M.; Adelman, S.; Yeakel, S.; Brontz, P.; Olson, K.; Ohlinger, J.

2014-02-01

Cab climate conditioning is one of the primary reasons for operating the main engine in a long-haul truck during driver rest periods. In the United States, sleeper cab trucks use approximately 667 million gallons of fuel annually for rest period idling. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) CoolCab Project works closely with industry to design efficient thermal management systems for long-haul trucks that minimize engine idling and fuel use while maintaining occupant comfort. Heat transfer to the vehicle interior from opaque exterior surfaces is one of the major heat pathways that contribute to air conditioning loads during long-haul truck daytime rest period idling. To quantify the impact of paint color and the opportunity for advanced paints, NREL collaborated with Volvo Group North America, PPG Industries, and Dometic Environmental Corporation. Initial screening simulations using CoolCalc, NREL's rapid HVAC load estimation tool, showed promising air-conditioning load reductions due to paint color selection. Tests conducted at NREL's Vehicle Testing and Integration Facility using long-haul truck cab sections, 'test bucks,' showed a 31.1% of maximum possible reduction in rise over ambient temperature and a 20.8% reduction in daily electric air conditioning energy use by switching from black to white paint. Additionally, changing from blue to an advanced color-matched solar reflective blue paint resulted in a 7.3% reduction in daily electric air conditioning energy use for weather conditions tested in Colorado. National-level modeling results using weather data from major U.S. cities indicated that the increase in heating loads due to lighter paint colors is much smaller than the reduction in cooling loads.

Information rates of next-generation long-haul optical fiber systems using coded modulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liga, G.; Alvarado, A.; Agrell, E.; Bayvel, P.

2017-01-01

A comprehensive study of the coded performance of long-haul spectrally-efficient WDM optical fiber transmission systems with different coded modulation decoding structures is presented. Achievable information rates are derived for three different square QAM formats and the optimal format is

Locomotive Schedule Optimization for Da-qin Heavy Haul Railway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruiye Su

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The main difference between locomotive schedule of heavy haul railways and that of regular rail transportation is the number of locomotives utilized for one train. One heavy-loaded train usually has more than one locomotive, but a regular train only has one. This paper develops an optimization model for the multilocomotive scheduling problem (MLSP through analyzing the current locomotive schedule of Da-qin Railway. The objective function of our paper is to minimize the total number of utilized locomotives. The MLSP is nondeterministic polynomial (NP hard. Therefore, we convert the multilocomotive traction problem into a single-locomotive traction problem. Then, the single-locomotive traction problem (SLTP can be converted into an assignment problem. The Hungarian algorithm is applied to solve the model and obtain the optimal locomotive schedule. We use the variance of detention time of locomotives at stations to evaluate the stability of locomotive schedule. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization model, case studies for 20 kt and 30 kt heavy-loaded combined trains on Da-qin Railway are both conducted. Compared to the current schedules, the optimal schedules from the proposed models can save 62 and 47 locomotives for 20 kt and 30 kt heavy-loaded combined trains, respectively. Therefore, the effectiveness of the proposed model and its solution algorithm are both valid.

Experimental log hauling through a traditional caribou wintering area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harold G. Cumming

1998-03-01

Full Text Available A 3-year field experiment (fall 1990-spring 1993 showed that woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou altered their dispersion when logs were hauled through their traditional wintering area. Unlike observations in control years 1 and 3, radio-collared caribou that had returned to the study area before the road was plowed on January 6 of the experimental year 2, moved away 8-60 km after logging activities began. Seasonal migration to Lake Nipigon islands usually peaked in April, but by February 22 of year 2, 4 of the 6 had returned. The islands provide summer refuge from predation, but not when the lake is frozen. Tracks in snow showed that some caribou remained but changed locations. They used areas near the road preferentially in year 1, early year 2, and year 3, but moved away 2-5 km after the road was plowed in year 2. In a nearby undisturbed control area, no such changes occurred. Caribou and moose partitioned habitat on a small scale; tracks showed gray wolf (Canis lupus remote from caribou but close to moose tracks. No predation on caribou was observed within the wintering area; 2 kills were found outside it. Due to the possibility of displacing caribou from winter refugia to places with higher predation risk, log hauling through important caribou winter habitat should be minimized.

Long-haul transportation of perishable products with transshipment and asset management issues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

SteadieSeifi, Maryam; Dellaert, Nico; Van Woensel, Tom

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present an optimization model for a transportation planning problem with multiple transportation modes, highly perishable products, demand and supply dynamics, and management of the reusable transport units (RTIs). Such a problem arises in the European horticultural chain, for

The Integrated Air Transportation System Evaluation Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Wingrove, Earl R., III; Hees, Jing; Villani, James A.; Yackovetsky, Robert E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Throughout U.S. history, our nation has generally enjoyed exceptional economic growth, driven in part by transportation advancements. Looking forward 25 years, when the national highway and skyway systems are saturated, the nation faces new challenges in creating transportation-driven economic growth and wealth. To meet the national requirement for an improved air traffic management system, NASA developed the goal of tripling throughput over the next 20 years, in all weather conditions while maintaining safety. Analysis of the throughput goal has primarily focused on major airline operations, primarily through the hub and spoke system.However, many suggested concepts to increase throughput may operate outside the hub and spoke system. Examples of such concepts include the Small Aircraft Transportation System, civil tiltrotor, and improved rotorcraft. Proper assessment of the potential contribution of these technologies to the domestic air transportation system requires a modeling capability that includes the country's numerous smaller airports, acting as a fundamental component of the National Air space System, and the demand for such concepts and technologies. Under this task for NASA, the Logistics Management Institute developed higher fidelity demand models that capture the interdependence of short-haul air travel with other transportation modes and explicitly consider the costs of commercial air and other transport modes. To accomplish this work, we generated forecasts of the distribution of general aviation based aircraft and GA itinerant operations at each of nearly 3.000 airport based on changes in economic conditions and demographic trends. We also built modules that estimate the demand for travel by different modes, particularly auto, commercial air, and GA. We examined GA demand from two perspectives: top-down and bottom-up, described in detail.

Hauled liquid waste as a pollutant of soils and waters in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karczmarczyk Agnieszka

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Hauled liquid waste as a pollutant of soils and waters in Poland. Improperly maintained holding tanks are often underestimated source of contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water. As a rule, wastewater stored in holding tanks, should be transported and treated in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs. There are 2,257,000 holding tanks in Poland, located mainly in rural areas. The article presents the results of analysis of wastewater management in 20 rural and urban-rural communes, which were chosen at random from the total number of 2,174 communes in Poland. The only criterion of commune selection was total or partial lack of sewerage system. Analysis of the collected data showed that on average only 27% of liquid waste from holding tanks ended at the WWTPs. The median is even lower and amounts to 17.5%. More than 4,000 Mg of P and 26,000 Mg of N is dispersed in the environment in uncontrolled manner. Those diffuse point sources of pollution may be one of the reasons in the difficulty of achieving of good ecological status of rivers and affect the quality of the Baltic Sea.

Economic comparisons of haul road construction versus forwarding versus longer skid distances

Science.gov (United States)

Michael D. Erickson; Curt C. Hassler; Chris B. LeDoux

1992-01-01

There currently exists no set of basic guidelines for Appalachian loggers to use in the decision making process for selecting the best way to harvest a tract of timber. Specifically, guidelines are needed for deciding between the alternatives of constructing truck haul roads to access an area or other alternatives such as skidding or forwarding timber longer distances...

Locomotor diseases among male long-haul truck drivers and other professional drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Anker; Kaerlev, Linda; Tüchsen, Finn

2007-01-01

-249) and for other truck drivers (SHR: 130, 95% CI: 108-156) compared to bus drivers (SHR: 110, 95% CI: 79-149). All drivers had high SHR for lesions of the ulnar nerve (SHR: 159, 95% CI: 119-207), especially bus drivers (SHR: 197, 95% CI: 116-311). Long-haul truck drivers had high SHRs for synovitis and bursitis...

Research on the Effects of Fatigue within the Corporate/Business Aircraft Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Neri, David F.; Rosekind, Mark R.; Co, Elizabeth L.; Gregory, Kevin B.; Miller, Donna L.

1997-01-01

In 1980, responding to a Congressional request, NASA Ames Research Center created a program to examine whether 'there is a safety problem of uncertain magnitude, due to transmeridian flying and a potential problem due to fatigue in association with various factors found in air transport operations.' The NASA Ames Fatigue/Jet Lag Program was created to collect systematic, scientific information on fatigue, sleep, circadian rhythms, and performance in flight operations. Three Program goals were established and continue to guide research efforts to: (1) determine the extent of fatigue, sleep loss, and circadian disruption in flight operations; (2) determine the impact of these factors on flight crew performance; (3) develop and evaluate countermeasures to mitigate the adverse effects of these factors and maximize flight crew performance and alertness. Since 1980, studies have been conducted in a variety of aviation environments, in controlled laboratory environments, as well as in a full-mission flight simulation. Early studies included investigations of short-haul, long-haul, and overnight cargo flight crews. In 1991, the name of the program was changed to the Fatigue Countermeasures Program to provide a greater emphasis on the development and evaluation of countermeasures. More recent work has examined the effects of planned cockpit rest as an operational countermeasure and provided analyses of the pertinent sleep/duty factors preceding an aviation accident at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Short-Haul study examined the extent of sleep loss, circadian disruption, and fatigue engendered by flying commercial short-haul air transport operations (flight legs less than eight hours). This was one of the first field studies conducted by the NASA program and provided unique insight into the physiological and subjective effects of flying commercial short-haul operations. It demonstrated that a range of measures could be obtained in an operational environment without disturbing

All-Cause and Cause-Specific Risk of Emergency Transport Attributable to Temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Onozuka, Daisuke; Hagihara, Akihito

2015-01-01

Abstract Although several studies have estimated the associations between mortality or morbidity and extreme temperatures in terms of relative risk, few studies have investigated the risk of emergency transport attributable to the whole temperature range nationwide. We acquired data on daily emergency ambulance dispatches in all 47 prefectures of Japan from 2007 to 2010. We examined the relationship between emergency transport and temperature for each prefecture using a Poisson regression model in a distributed lag nonlinear model with adjustment for time trends. A random-effect multivariate meta-analysis was then applied to pool the estimates at the national level. Attributable morbidity was calculated for high and low temperatures, which were defined as those above or below the optimum temperature (ie, the minimum morbidity temperature) and for moderate and also extreme temperatures, which were defined using cutoffs at the 2.5th and 97.5th temperature percentiles. A total of 15,868,086 cases of emergency transport met the inclusion criteria. The emergency transport was attributable to nonoptimal temperature. The median minimum morbidity percentile was in the 79th percentile for all causes, the 96th percentile for cardiovascular disease, and the 92th percentile for respiratory disease. The fraction attributable to low temperature was 6.94% (95% eCI: 5.93–7.70) for all causes, 17.93% (95% eCI: 16.10–19.25) for cardiovascular disease, and 12.19% (95% eCI: 9.90–13.66) for respiratory disease, whereas the fraction attributable to high temperature was small (all causes = 1.01%, 95% eCI: 0.90–1.11; cardiovascular disease = 0.10%, 95% eCI: 0.04–0.14; respiratory disease = 0.29%, 95% eCI: 0.07–0.50). The all-cause morbidity risk that was attributable to temperature was related to moderate cold, with an overall estimate of 6.41% (95% eCI: 5.47–7.20). Extreme temperatures were responsible for a small fraction, which corresponded to 0.57% (95% e

Stress Response to Long Distance Transportation of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Dobšíková

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The stress responses and changes in biochemical and haematological indices were investigated in three-year-old common carp (Cyprinus carpio L. during a long-distance transportation in special truck tanks. Twelve-hour transportation caused a significant increase in ammonia (p < 0.01, mean corpuscular volume MCV (p < 0.01, metamyelocytes ( p < 0.05 and band neutrophils (p < 0.01, and a significant decrease in Cl- (p < 0.05, lactate (p < 0.05, ALT (p < 0.05 and ALP (p < 0.01 levels. The values of LDH (p < 0.01, AST (p < 0.05, CK (p < 0.01 and haematocrit PCV (p < 0.05 were also significantly influenced by the transportation, but no time-dependent relation was found. On the contrary, the levels of cortisol, glucose and total protein in the biochemical profile, and the values of erythrocyte count (RBC, haemoglobin (Hb, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC, leukocyte counts (WBC and leukogram (except for metamyelocytes and band neutrophils in the haematological profile were not significantly influenced by the transportation. Results showed that pre-transport fish manipulation (hauling, netting, handling, loading was found to be an important stressor for fish. Long-distance transportation itself was relatively considerate for the common carp tested.

49 CFR 214.7 - Definitions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...-highway ground transportation that run on rails or electro-magnetic guideways, including (1) commuter or other short-haul rail passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area, and (2) high-speed ground... structures, whether of timber, stone, concrete, metal, or any combination thereof. Railroad bridge worker or...

Forced Hot Air to Dry Feces and Kill Bacteria on Transport Cage Flooring

Science.gov (United States)

Due to fecal shedding from positive birds, broiler transport cages can be contaminated with human bacterial pathogens leading to cross contamination of previously negative broilers during live haul. Earlier work has shown that drying soiled or washed cages for 24 to 48 hours can lower or even elimi...

Intracellular Na+ concentration influences short-term plasticity of glutamate transporter-mediated currents in neocortical astrocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Unichenko, Petr; Myakhar, Olga; Kirischuk, Sergei

2012-04-01

Fast synaptic transmission requires a rapid clearance of the released neurotransmitter from the extracellular space. Glial glutamate transporters (excitatory amino acid transporters, EAATs) strongly contribute to glutamate removal. In this work, we investigated the paired-pulse plasticity of synaptically activated, glutamate transporter-mediated currents (STCs) in cortical layer 2/3 astrocytes. STCs were elicited by local electrical stimulation in layer 4 in the presence of ionotropic glutamate (AMPA and NMDA), GABAA, and GABAB receptor antagonists. In experiments with low [Na(+)]i (5 mM) intrapipette solution, STCs elicited by paired-pulse stimulation demonstrated paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) at short (astrocytic [Na(+)]i, reduced the mean STC amplitude, decreased PPF at short ISIs, and slowed STC kinetics. All GABA-induced changes were blocked by NO-711 and SNAP-5114, GABA transporter (GATs) antagonists. In experiments with the low intrapipette solution, GAT blockade under control conditions decreased PPF at short ISIs both at room and at near physiological temperatures. Dialysis of single astrocyte with low [Na(+)]i solution increased the amplitude and reduced PPR of evoked field potentials recorded in the vicinity of the astrocyte. We conclude that (1) endogenous GABA via GATs may influence EAAT functioning and (2) astrocytic [Na(+)]i modulates the short-term plasticity of STCs and in turn the efficacy of glutamate removal. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Environmental Impacts of Transportation to the Potential Repository at Yucca Mountain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweeney, R.L.; Best, R.; Bolton, P.; Adams, P.

2002-01-01

The Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada analyzes a Proposed Action to construct, operate, monitor, and eventually close a geologic repository for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. As part of the Proposed Action, the EIS analyzes the potential impacts of transporting commercial and DOE spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain from 77 sites across the United States. The analysis includes information on the comparative impacts of transporting these materials by truck and rail and discusses the impacts of building a rail line or using heavy-haul trucks to move rail casks from a mainline railroad in Nevada to the site. This paper provides an overview of the analyses and the potential impacts of these transportation activities. The potential transportation impacts were looked at from two perspectives: transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by legal-weight truck or by rail on a national scale and impacts specific to Nevada from the transportation of these materials from the State borders to the Yucca Mountain site. In order to address the range of impacts that could result from the most likely modes, legal-weight truck and rail, the EIS employed two analytical scenarios--mostly legal-weight truck and mostly rail. Estimated national transportation impacts were based on 24 years of transportation activities. Approximately 8 fatalities could occur from all causes in the nationwide general population from incident-free transportation activities of the mostly legal-weight truck scenario and about 4 from the mostly rail scenario. The analysis examined the radiological consequences under the maximum foreseeable accident scenario and also overall accident risk. The overall accident risk over the 24 year period would be about 0.0002 latent cancer fatality for

Advanced digital signal processing for short haul optical fiber transmission beyond 100G

Science.gov (United States)

Kikuchi, Nobuhiko

2017-01-01

Significant increase of intra and inter data center traffic has been expected by the rapid spread of various network applications like SNS, IoT, mobile and cloud computing, and the needs for ultra-high speed and cost-effective short- to medium-reach optical fiber links beyond 100-Gbit/s is becoming larger and larger. Such high-speed links typically use multilevel modulation to lower signaling speed, which in turn face serious challenges in limited loss budget and waveform distortion tolerance. One of the promising techniques to overcome them is the use of advanced digital signal processing (DSP) and we review various DSP applications for short-to-medium reach applications.

Capacity Utilisation of Vehicles for Road Freight Transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kveiborg, Ole; Abate, Megersa Abera

to their analytical approach and origin of research. Findings The first approach looks at utilisation based on economic theories such as the firms’ objective to maximise profitability and considers how various firm and haul (market) characteristics influence utilisation. The second approach stems from the transport...... modelling literature and its main aim is analysing vehicle movement and usage in transport demand modelling context. A strand of this second group of contributions is the modelling of trip-chain and its implication on the level of capacity utilisation. Research limitations The review is not a comprehensive...... by combining different strands of this literature....

Application of Sleeper Cab Thermal Management Technologies to Reduce Idle Climate Control Loads in Long-Haul Trucks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lustbader, J. A.; Venson, T.; Adelman, S.; Dehart, C.; Yeakel, S.; Castillo, M. S.

2012-10-01

Each intercity long-haul truck in the U.S. idles approximately 1,800 hrs per year, primarily for sleeper cab hotel loads. Including workday idling, over 2 billion gallons of fuel are used annually for truck idling. NREL's CoolCab project works closely with industry to design efficient thermal management systems for long-haul trucks that keep the cab comfortable with minimized engine idling and fuel use. The impact of thermal load reduction technologies on idle reduction systems were characterized by conducting thermal soak tests, overall heat transfer tests, and 10-hour rest period A/C tests. Technologies evaluated include advanced insulation packages, a solar reflective film applied to the vehicle's opaque exterior surfaces, a truck featuring both film and insulation, and a battery-powered A/C system. Opportunities were identified to reduce heating and cooling loads for long-haul truck idling by 36% and 34%, respectively, which yielded a 23% reduction in battery pack capacity of the idle-reduction system. Data were also collected for development and validation of a CoolCalc HVAC truck cab model. CoolCalc is an easy-to-use, simplified, physics-based HVAC load estimation tool that requires no meshing, has flexible geometry, excludes unnecessary detail, and is less time-intensive than more detailed computer-aided engineering modeling approaches.

Functional requirements of the borrow area and haul route for the Waste Area Grouping projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, D.G.

1992-09-01

This report describes the mission and functional requirements for the development of a borrow area and the associated haul route to support closure and/or remediation of Waste Area Grouping (WAG) 6 and other WAGs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This document specifies the basic functional requirements that must be met by the borrow area and haul route developed to produce low-permeability soil for the covers or caps at WAG 6

A correlation linking the predicted mean vote and the mean thermal vote based on an investigation on the human thermal comfort in short-haul domestic flights.

Science.gov (United States)

Giaconia, Carlo; Orioli, Aldo; Di Gangi, Alessandra

2015-05-01

The results of an experimental investigation on the human thermal comfort inside the cabin of some Airbus A319 aircrafts during 14 short-haul domestic flights, linking various Italian cities, are presented and used to define a correlation among the predicted mean vote (PMV), a procedure which is commonly used to assess the thermal comfort in inhabited environments, and the equivalent temperature and mean thermal vote (MTV), which are the parameters suggested by the European Standard EN ISO 14505-2 for the evaluation of the thermal environment in vehicles. The measurements of the radiant temperature, air temperature and relative humidity during flights were performed. The air temperature varied between 22.2 °C and 26.0 °C; the relative humidity ranged from 8.7% to 59.2%. The calculated values of the PMV varied from -0.16 to 0.90 and were confirmed by the answers of the passengers. The equivalent temperature was evaluated using the equations of Fanger or on the basis of the values of the skin temperature measured on some volunteers. The correlation linking the thermal sensation scales and zones used by the PMV and the MTV resulted quite accurate because the minimum value of the absolute difference between such environmental indexes equalled 0.0073 and the maximum difference did not exceed the value of 0.0589. Even though the equivalent temperature and the MTV were specifically proposed to evaluate the thermal sensation in vehicles, their use may be effectively extended to the assessment of the thermal comfort in airplanes or other occupied places. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Conceptual Feasibility Study of the Hyperloop Vehicle for Next-Generation Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Decker, Kenneth; Chin, Jeffrey; Peng, Andi; Summers, Colin; Nguyen, Golda; Oberlander, Andrew; Sakib, Gazi; Sharifrazi, Nariman; Heath, Christopher; Gray, Justin S.;

Trends in spatial patterns of heavy metal deposition on national park service lands along the Red Dog Mine haul road, Alaska, 2001-2006.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter N Neitlich

Full Text Available Spatial patterns of Zn, Pb and Cd deposition in Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR, Alaska, adjacent to the Red Dog Mine haul road, were characterized in 2001 and 2006 using Hylocomium moss tissue as a biomonitor. Elevated concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn in moss tissue decreased logarithmically away from the haul road and the marine port. The metals concentrations in the two years were compared using Bayesian posterior predictions on a new sampling grid to which both data sets were fit. Posterior predictions were simulated 200 times both on a coarse grid of 2,357 points and by distance-based strata including subsets of these points. Compared to 2001, Zn and Pb concentrations in 2006 were 31 to 54% lower in the 3 sampling strata closest to the haul road (0-100, 100-2000 and 2000-4000 m. Pb decreased by 40% in the stratum 4,000-5,000 m from the haul road. Cd decreased significantly by 38% immediately adjacent to the road (0-100m, had an 89% probability of a small decrease 100-2000 m from the road, and showed moderate probabilities (56-71% for increase at greater distances. There was no significant change over time (with probabilities all ≤ 85% for any of the 3 elements in more distant reference areas (40-60 km. As in 2001, elemental concentrations in 2006 were higher on the north side of the road. Reductions in deposition have followed a large investment in infrastructure to control fugitive dust escapement at the mine and port sites, operational controls, and road dust mitigation. Fugitive dust escapement, while much reduced, is still resulting in elevated concentrations of Zn, Pb and Cd out to 5,000 m from the haul road. Zn and Pb levels were slightly above arctic baseline values in southern CAKR reference areas.

MRI features of growth hormone deficiency in children with short stature caused by pituitary lesions

OpenAIRE

Xu, Chao; Zhang, Xinxian; Dong, Lina; Zhu, Bin; Xin, Tao

2017-01-01

We verified the advantages of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for improving the diagnostic quality of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children with short stature caused by pituitary lesions. Clinical data obtained from 577 GHD patients with short stature caused by pituitary lesions were retrospectively analyzed. There were 354 cases (61.3%) with anterior pituitary dysplasia; 45 cases (7.8%) of pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS); 15 cases (2.6%) of pituitary hyperplasia due...

Comparative endocrinological responses to short transportation of Equidae (Equus asinus and Equus caballus).

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Esterina; Medica, Pietro; Cravana, Cristina; Aveni, Francesca; Ferlazzo, Adriana

2013-03-01

In order to evaluate the effects of short transportation on β-endorphin, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol changes, 12 healthy stallions of Equidae (Equus asinus and Equus caballus) were studied before and after transportation of 50 km. Blood samples were collected 1 week before transportation in basal conditions, immediately before loading and after transportation and unloading, on their arrival at the breeding station. Compared to basal and before values, donkeys showed an increase in circulating ACTH (P donkeys. Horses facing forward (direction of travel) showed higher (P donkeys; horses facing backward (the opposite direction of travel) showed lower (P donkeys and only of cortisol in horses, suggesting that transportation for donkeys may be more stressful than horses. © 2012 The Authors Animal Science Journal © 2012 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

cAMP Stimulates Transepithelial Short-Circuit Current and Fluid Transport Across Porcine Ciliary Epithelium.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Angela King-Wah; Civan, Mortimer M; To, Chi-Ho; Do, Chi-Wai

2016-12-01

To investigate the effects of cAMP on transepithelial electrical parameters and fluid transport across porcine ciliary epithelium. Transepithelial electrical parameters were determined by mounting freshly isolated porcine ciliary epithelium in a modified Ussing chamber. Similarly, fluid movement across intact ciliary body was measured with a custom-made fluid flow chamber. Addition of 1, 10, and 100 μM 8-Br-cAMP (cAMP) to the aqueous side (nonpigmented ciliary epithelium, NPE) induced a sustained increase in short-circuit current (Isc). Addition of niflumic acid (NFA) to the aqueous surface effectively blocked the cAMP-induced Isc stimulation. The administration of cAMP to the stromal side (pigmented ciliary epithelium, PE) triggered a significant stimulation of Isc only at 100 μM. No additive effect was observed with bilateral application of cAMP. Likewise, forskolin caused a significant stimulation of Isc when applied to the aqueous side. Concomitantly, cAMP and forskolin increased fluid transport across porcine ciliary epithelium, and this stimulation was effectively inhibited by aqueous NFA. Depleting Cl- in the bathing solution abolished the baseline Isc and inhibited the subsequent stimulation by cAMP. Pretreatment with protein kinase A (PKA) blockers (H89/KT5720) significantly inhibited the cAMP- and forskolin-induced Isc responses. Our results suggest that cAMP triggers a sustained stimulation of Cl- and fluid transport across porcine ciliary epithelium; Cl- channels in the NPE cells are potentially a cellular site for this PKA-sensitive cAMP-mediated response.

I spy with my little eye: Analysis of airline pilots' gaze patterns in a manual instrument flight scenario.

Science.gov (United States)

Haslbeck, Andreas; Zhang, Bo

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to analyze pilots' visual scanning in a manual approach and landing scenario. Manual flying skills suffer from increasing use of automation. In addition, predominantly long-haul pilots with only a few opportunities to practice these skills experience this decline. Airline pilots representing different levels of practice (short-haul vs. long-haul) had to perform a manual raw data precision approach while their visual scanning was recorded by an eye-tracking device. The analysis of gaze patterns, which are based on predominant saccades, revealed one main group of saccades among long-haul pilots. In contrast, short-haul pilots showed more balanced scanning using two different groups of saccades. Short-haul pilots generally demonstrated better manual flight performance and within this group, one type of scan pattern was found to facilitate the manual landing task more. Long-haul pilots tend to utilize visual scanning behaviors that are inappropriate for the manual ILS landing task. This lack of skills needs to be addressed by providing specific training and more practice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 79157 - Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; St. George Reef Light Station...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-21

... automation of the light system); and (4) human presence, may have the potential to cause any pinnipeds hauled... activities would require the SGRLPS to transport personnel and equipment from the California mainland to NWSR... approximately 15 m (48 ft) above the surface of the rocks on NWSR. SGRLPS proposes to transport no more than 15...

Short stature caused by isolated SHOX gene haploinsufficiency: update on the diagnosis and treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorge, Alexander A L; Funari, Mariana Fa; Nishi, Mirian Y; Mendonca, Berenice B

2010-12-01

Heterozygous SHOX defects are observed in about 50 to 90% of patients with Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD), a common dominant inherited skeletal dysplasia; and in 2 to 15% of children with idiopathic short stature (ISS), indicating that SHOX defects are the most important monogenetic cause of short stature. In addition, children selected by disproportionate idiopathic short stature had a higher frequency of SHOX mutations (22%). A careful clinical evaluation of family members with short stature is recommended since it usually revealed LWD patients in families first classified as having ISS or familial short stature. SHOX-molecular analysis is indicated in families with LWD and ISS children with disproportionate short stature. Treatment with recombinant human growth hormone is considered an accepted approach to treat short stature associated with isolated SHOX defect. Here we review clinical, molecular and therapeutic aspects of SHOX haploinsufficiency.

The use of cell phone network data in traffic data collection and long-haul truckshed (geographic extent) tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-01

This study analyzed the potential of cell phone positioning techniques in freight truck data collection and long-haul : truckshed (geographic extent) tracking. Freight truck identification and tracking algorithms were developed by means of : cell pho...

2050 Scenarios for Long-Haul Tourism in the Evolving Global Climate Change Regime

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jako Volschenk

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Tourism and its “midwife”, aviation, are transnational sectors exposed to global uncertainties. This scenario-building exercise considers a specific subset of these uncertainties, namely the impact of the evolving global climate change regime on long-haul tourism (LHT, with a 2050 horizon. The basic problematique is that unconstrained growth in aviation emissions will not be compatible with 2050 climate stabilisation goals, and that the stringency and timing of public policy interventions could have far-reaching impacts — either on the market for future growth of LHT, or the natural ecosystem on which tourism depends. Following an intuitive-logic approach to scenario-building, three meta-level scenarios that can be regarded as “possible” futures for the evolution of LHT are described. Two of these, i.e., the “grim reaper” and the “fallen angel” scenarios, are undesirable. The “green lantern” scenario represents the desired future. Long-haul tourist destinations should heed the early warning signals identified in the scenario narratives, and contribute towards realising the desired future. They should further guard against being passive victims if the feared scenarios materialise, by adapting, repositioning early upon reading the signposts, hedging against risks, and seizing new opportunities.

CMOS Receiver Front-ends for Gigabit Short-Range Optical Communications

CERN Document Server

Aznar, Francisco; Calvo Lopez, Belén

2013-01-01

This book describes optical receiver solutions integrated in standard CMOS technology, attaining high-speed short-range transmission within cost-effective constraints.  These techniques support short reach applications, such as local area networks, fiber-to-the-home and multimedia systems in cars and homes. The authors show how to implement the optical front-end in the same technology as the subsequent digital circuitry, leading to integration of the entire receiver system in the same chip.  The presentation focuses on CMOS receiver design targeting gigabit transmission along a low-cost, standardized plastic optical fiber up to 50m in length.  This book includes a detailed study of CMOS optical receiver design – from building blocks to the system level. Reviews optical communications, including long-haul transmission systems and emerging applications focused on short-range; Explains necessary fundamentals, such as characteristics of a data signal, system requirements affecting receiver design and key par...

Hypokalemia causing rhabdomyolysis in a patient with short bowel syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Balhara, Kamna S; Highet, Bridget; Omron, Rodney

2015-04-01

Rhabdomyolysis, usually in the setting of trauma or drug use, is frequently seen in the emergency setting, and often leads to hyperkalemia at presentation. Hypokalemia, however, is a potentially underrecognized cause of rhabdomyolysis. We present a case of rhabdomyolysis likely due to hypokalemia in the setting of short bowel syndrome. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Although less common, hypokalemia can be a significant cause of rhabdomyolysis via its effects on muscle. This scenario should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients at risk for hypokalemia who present with weakness. Rapid recognition of this relationship and rapid correction of hypokalemia may prove very important in preventing the deleterious effects of rhabdomyolysis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short-term responses of Dutch vacationers to a sharp increase in transport costs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Cranenburgh, S.

2016-01-01

This paper investigates vacationers’ short-term responses to a sharp increase in transport costs. It aims to (1) acquire an understanding of the relative popularity of the different types of responses among vacationers and (2) explore whether there are distinct market segments of vacationers that

All-Cause and Cause-Specific Risk of Emergency Transport Attributable to Temperature: A Nationwide Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Onozuka, Daisuke; Hagihara, Akihito

2015-12-01

Although several studies have estimated the associations between mortality or morbidity and extreme temperatures in terms of relative risk, few studies have investigated the risk of emergency transport attributable to the whole temperature range nationwide.We acquired data on daily emergency ambulance dispatches in all 47 prefectures of Japan from 2007 to 2010. We examined the relationship between emergency transport and temperature for each prefecture using a Poisson regression model in a distributed lag nonlinear model with adjustment for time trends. A random-effect multivariate meta-analysis was then applied to pool the estimates at the national level. Attributable morbidity was calculated for high and low temperatures, which were defined as those above or below the optimum temperature (ie, the minimum morbidity temperature) and for moderate and also extreme temperatures, which were defined using cutoffs at the 2.5th and 97.5th temperature percentiles.A total of 15,868,086 cases of emergency transport met the inclusion criteria. The emergency transport was attributable to nonoptimal temperature. The median minimum morbidity percentile was in the 79th percentile for all causes, the 96th percentile for cardiovascular disease, and the 92th percentile for respiratory disease. The fraction attributable to low temperature was 6.94% (95% eCI: 5.93-7.70) for all causes, 17.93% (95% eCI: 16.10-19.25) for cardiovascular disease, and 12.19% (95% eCI: 9.90-13.66) for respiratory disease, whereas the fraction attributable to high temperature was small (all causes = 1.01%, 95% eCI: 0.90-1.11; cardiovascular disease = 0.10%, 95% eCI: 0.04-0.14; respiratory disease = 0.29%, 95% eCI: 0.07-0.50). The all-cause morbidity risk that was attributable to temperature was related to moderate cold, with an overall estimate of 6.41% (95% eCI: 5.47-7.20). Extreme temperatures were responsible for a small fraction, which corresponded to 0.57% (95% eCI: 0.50-0.62) for extreme

Methods for stable recording of short-circuit current in a Na+-transporting epithelium.

Science.gov (United States)

Gondzik, Veronika; Awayda, Mouhamed S

2011-07-01

Epithelial Na(+) transport as measured by a variety of techniques, including the short-circuit current technique, has been described to exhibit a "rundown" phenomenon. This phenomenon manifests as time-dependent decrease of current and resistance and precludes the ability to carry out prolonged experiments aimed at examining the regulation of this transport. We developed methods for prolonged stable recordings of epithelial Na(+) transport using modifications of the short-circuit current technique and commercial Ussing-type chambers. We utilize the polarized MDCK cell line expressing the epithelial Na(+) channel (ENaC) to describe these methods. Briefly, existing commercial chambers were modified to allow continuous flow of Ringer solution and precise control of such flow. Chamber manifolds and associated plumbing were modified to allow precise temperature clamp preventing temperature oscillations. Recording electrodes were modified to eliminate the use of KCl and prevent membrane depolarization from KCl leakage. Solutions utilized standard bicarbonate-based buffers, but all gasses were prehydrated to clamp buffer osmolarity. We demonstrate that these modifications result in measurements of current and resistance that are stable for at least 2 h. We further demonstrate that drifts in osmolarity similar to those obtained before prior to our modifications can lead to a decrease of current and resistance similar to those attributed to rundown.

Particle transport patterns of short-distance soil erosion by wind-driven rain, rain and wind

Science.gov (United States)

Marzen, Miriam; Iserloh, Thomas; de Lima, João L. M. P.; Ries, Johannes B.

2015-04-01

Short distance erosion of soil surface material is one of the big question marks in soil erosion studies. The exact measurement of short-distance transported soil particles, prior to the occurrence of overland flow, is a challenge to soil erosion science due to the particular requirements of the experimental setup and test procedure. To approach a quantification of amount and distance of each type of transport, we applied an especially developed multiple-gutter system installed inside the Trier Portable Wind and Rainfall Simulator (PWRS). We measured the amount and travel distance of soil particles detached and transported by raindrops (splash), wind-driven rain (splash-saltation and splash-drift) and wind (saltation). The test setup included three different erosion agents (rain/ wind-driven rain/ wind), two substrates (sandy/ loamy), three surface structures (grain roughness/ rills lengthwise/ rills transversal) and three slope angles (0°/+7°/-7°). The results present detailed transport patterns of the three erosion agents under the varying soil and surface conditions up to a distance of 1.6 m. Under the applied rain intensity and wind velocity, wind-driven rain splash generates the highest erosion. The erodibility and travel distance of the two substrates depend on the erosion agent. The total erosion is slightly higher for the slope angle -7° (downslope), but for wind-driven rain splash, the inclination is not a relevant factor. The effect of surface structures (rills) changes with traveling distance. The wind driven rain splash generates a much higher amount of erosion and a further travel distance of the particles due to the combined action of wind and rain. The wind-driven rain factor appears to be much more significant than the other factors. The study highlights the effects of different erosion agents and surface parameters on short-distance particle transport and the powerful impact of wind-driven rain on soil erosion.

Giant electron-hole transport asymmetry in ultra-short quantum transistors

Science.gov (United States)

McRae, A. C.; Tayari, V.; Porter, J. M.; Champagne, A. R.

2017-01-01

Making use of bipolar transport in single-wall carbon nanotube quantum transistors would permit a single device to operate as both a quantum dot and a ballistic conductor or as two quantum dots with different charging energies. Here we report ultra-clean 10 to 100 nm scale suspended nanotube transistors with a large electron-hole transport asymmetry. The devices consist of naked nanotube channels contacted with sections of tube under annealed gold. The annealed gold acts as an n-doping top gate, allowing coherent quantum transport, and can create nanometre-sharp barriers. These tunnel barriers define a single quantum dot whose charging energies to add an electron or a hole are vastly different (e−h charging energy asymmetry). We parameterize the e−h transport asymmetry by the ratio of the hole and electron charging energies ηe−h. This asymmetry is maximized for short channels and small band gap tubes. In a small band gap device, we demonstrate the fabrication of a dual functionality quantum device acting as a quantum dot for holes and a much longer quantum bus for electrons. In a 14 nm-long channel, ηe−h reaches up to 2.6 for a device with a band gap of 270 meV. The charging energies in this device exceed 100 meV. PMID:28561024

Tourism's climate mitigation dilemma: flying between rich and poor countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peeters, P.M.; Eijgelaar, E.

2014-01-01

Stronger demand for medium- to long-haul air transport is the main driver of the tourism industry's increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, causing the current development of global tourism to be environmentally unsustainable. Efficiency improvements and biofuel usage are unlikely to maintain

Influence of short range ordering and clustering on transport properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vigier, G.; Pelletier, J.M.

1982-01-01

The influence of short range ordering and clustering phenomena on the electrical resistivity p and the thermopower S is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. According to the considered alloys either increases or decreases of transport properties may be observed when deviations from a random distribution of solute atoms occur. These observations are explained with a model based on free electrons and Born approximations the importance of the potential choice is underlined; two kinds of description of the structure factor are investigated. A good semiquantitative agreement is obtained between computed results and experimental observations

Cultural Resource Investigations for a Multipurpose Haul Road on the Idaho National Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brenda R. Pace; Cameron Brizzee; Hollie Gilbert; Clayton Marler; Julie Braun Williams

2010-08-01

The U. S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office is considering options for construction of a multipurpose haul road to transport materials and wastes between the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) and other Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site facilities. The proposed road will be closed to the public and designed for limited year-round use. Two primary options are under consideration: a new route south of the existing T-25 power line road and an upgrade to road T-24. In the Spring of 2010, archaeological field surveys and initial coordination and field reconnaissance with representatives from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes were completed to identify any resources that may be adversely affected by the proposed road construction and to develop recommendations to protect any listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The investigations showed that 24 archaeological resources and one historic marker are located in the area of potential effects for road construction and operation south of the T-25 powerline road and 27archaeological resources are located in the area of potential effects for road construction and operation along road T-24. Generalized tribal concerns regarding protection of natural resources were also documented in both road corridors. This report outlines recommendations for additional investigations and protective measures that can be implemented to minimize adverse impacts to the identified resources.

Air crew exposure on board of long-haul flights of the Belgian airlines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verhaegen, F.; Poffijn, A.

2000-01-01

New European radiation protection recommendations state that measures need to be taken for flight crew members whose annual radiation exposure exceeds 1 mSv. This will be the case for flight crew members who accumulate most of their flying hours on long-haul flights. The Recommendations for the Implementation of the Basic Safety Standards Directive states that for annual exposure levels between 1 and 6 mSv individual dose estimates should be obtained, whereas for annual exposures exceeding 6 mSv, which might rarely occur, record keeping with appropriate medical surveillance is recommended. To establish the exposure level of Belgian air crews, radiation measurements were performed on board of a total of 44 long-haul flights of the Belgian airlines. The contribution of low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation (photons, electrons, protons) was assessed by using TLD-700H detectors. The exposure to high-LET radiation (mostly neutrons) was measured with bubble detectors. Results were compared to calculations with an adapted version of the computer code CARI. For the low-LET radiation the calculations were found to be in good agreement with the measurements. The measurements of the neutron dose were consistently lower than the calculations. With the current flight schedules used by the Belgian airlines, air crew members are unlikely to receive annual doses exceeding 4 mSv. (author)

An optimization model for collection, haul, transfer, treatment and disposal of infectious medical waste: Application to a Greek region.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantzaras, Gerasimos; Voudrias, Evangelos A

2017-11-01

The objective of this work was to develop an optimization model to minimize the cost of a collection, haul, transfer, treatment and disposal system for infectious medical waste (IMW). The model calculates the optimum locations of the treatment facilities and transfer stations, their design capacities (t/d), the number and capacities of all waste collection, transport and transfer vehicles and their optimum transport path and the minimum IMW management system cost. Waste production nodes (hospitals, healthcare centers, peripheral health offices, private clinics and physicians in private practice) and their IMW production rates were specified and used as model inputs. The candidate locations of the treatment facilities, transfer stations and sanitary landfills were designated, using a GIS-based methodology. Specifically, Mapinfo software with exclusion criteria for non-appropriate areas was used for siting candidate locations for the construction of the treatment plant and calculating the distance and travel time of all possible vehicle routes. The objective function was a non-linear equation, which minimized the total collection, transport, treatment and disposal cost. Total cost comprised capital and operation costs for: (1) treatment plant, (2) waste transfer stations, (3) waste transport and transfer vehicles and (4) waste collection bins and hospital boxes. Binary variables were used to decide whether a treatment plant and/or a transfer station should be constructed and whether a collection route between two or more nodes should be followed. Microsoft excel software was used as installation platform of the optimization model. For the execution of the optimization routine, two completely different software were used and the results were compared, thus, resulting in higher reliability and validity of the results. The first software was Evolver, which is based on the use of genetic algorithms. The second one was Crystal Ball, which is based on Monte Carlo

IHH Gene Mutations Causing Short Stature With Nonspecific Skeletal Abnormalities and Response to Growth Hormone Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasques, Gabriela A; Funari, Mariana F A; Ferreira, Frederico M; Aza-Carmona, Miriam; Sentchordi-Montané, Lucia; Barraza-García, Jimena; Lerario, Antonio M; Yamamoto, Guilherme L; Naslavsky, Michel S; Duarte, Yeda A O; Bertola, Debora R; Heath, Karen E; Jorge, Alexander A L

2018-02-01

Genetic evaluation has been recognized as an important tool to elucidate the causes of growth disorders. To investigate the cause of short stature and to determine the phenotype of patients with IHH mutations, including the response to recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy. We studied 17 families with autosomal-dominant short stature by using whole exome sequencing and screened IHH defects in 290 patients with growth disorders. Molecular analyses were performed to evaluate the potential impact of N-terminal IHH variants. We identified 10 pathogenic or possibly pathogenic variants in IHH, an important regulator of endochondral ossification. Molecular analyses revealed a smaller potential energy of mutated IHH molecules. The allele frequency of rare, predicted to be deleterious IHH variants found in short-stature samples (1.6%) was higher than that observed in two control cohorts (0.017% and 0.08%; P IHH variants segregate with short stature in a dominant inheritance pattern. Affected individuals typically manifest mild disproportional short stature with a frequent finding of shortening of the middle phalanx of the fifth finger. None of them have classic features of brachydactyly type A1, which was previously associated with IHH mutations. Five patients heterozygous for IHH variants had a good response to rhGH therapy. The mean change in height standard deviation score in 1 year was 0.6. Our study demonstrated the association of pathogenic variants in IHH with short stature with nonspecific skeletal abnormalities and established a frequent cause of growth disorder, with a preliminary good response to rhGH. Copyright © 2017 Endocrine Society

Collection and hauling of cereal grain chaff

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reding, B.; Leduc, P. [Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute, Humboldt, Saskatchewan (Canada); Stumborg, M. [Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

1993-12-31

Cereal grain chaff has been identified by Energy Mines and Resources, Canada, and Agriculture Canada, as a suitable feedstock for ethanol production. Canada produces 13,300,000 t (14,600,000 ton) of cereal grain chaff annually; mainly in the prairie region. Work conducted at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), Humboldt, Saskatchewan, has determined that the collection of chaff for centralized processing is a problem due to low bulk density in its natural state. This problem can be overcome by densification using either compression or size reduction. Either method will be economical in a chaff shed radius of 140 km (87 mi) when chaff is densified to 160 kg/m{sup 3} (10 lb/ft{sup 3}). The size reduction method of densification may be economical to hauling distances exceeding 166 km (103 mi), particularly if size reduction is a required part of ethanol processing. Further work is under way to develop the required equipment modifications to allow existing farm equipment to be used for this purpose.

Short- and Long-Term Cause of Death in Patients Treated With Primary PCI for STEMI

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Frants; Butrymovich, Vitalij; Kelbæk, Henning

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Short-term mortality has been studied thoroughly in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), whereas long-term cause of death in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to des......BACKGROUND: Short-term mortality has been studied thoroughly in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), whereas long-term cause of death in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study...... was to describe the association between time and cause of death in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI. METHODS: A centralized civil registration system, patient files, and public disease and death cause registries with an accurate record linkage were used to trace time and cause of death in 2......,804 consecutive patients with STEMI (age 63 ± 13 years, 72% males) treated with primary PCI. RESULTS: Patients were followed up for a median of 4.7 years. During a total of 13,447 patient-years, 717 patients died. Main causes of death within the first 30 days were cardiogenic shock and anoxic brain injury after...

Impact of overnight traffic noise on sleep quality, sleepiness, and vigilant attention in long-haul truck drivers: Results of a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roland FJ Popp

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate the impact of traffic noise along the motorway on sleep quality, sleepiness, and vigilant attention in long-haul truck drivers. This was a randomized, crossover, within-subject controlled study. Healthy long-haul truck drivers spent 6 consecutive nights in a real truck berth with full sleep laboratory equipment. During 3 nights, subjects were exposed to replayed traffic noise alongside motorways, whereas the other 3 nights were without traffic noise. Polysomnography was recorded during the nights and numerous sleepiness tests and vigilance examinations were performed during the following standardized working day. Outcome measures were compared between noisy and silent nights using the paired Wilcoxon test. Ten healthy long-haul truck drivers with a mean age of 36.3 ± 7.3 years completed the study as planned. On noisy nights, subjects had greater latencies to the rapid eye movement (REM phase (90 ± 32 min vs 69 ± 16 min, P = 0.074 and higher percentages of sleep stage 1 (13.7 ± 5.5% vs 11.2 ± 4.4%; P = 0.059. Subjects also rated their sleep quality as having been better during nights without noise (28.1 ± 3.7 vs 30.3 ± 6.2, P = 0.092. The impact of these differences on daytime sleepiness and vigilance was rather low; however, mean Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS scores measured during the course of the following day were higher on six out of eight occasions after noisy nights. The effects of overnight traffic noise on sleep quality are detectable but unlikely to have any major impact on the vigilant attention and driving performance of long haul-truck drivers with low nocturnal noise sensitivity. This might not be true for subgroups prone to sleeping disorders.

Impact of overnight traffic noise on sleep quality, sleepiness, and vigilant attention in long-haul truck drivers: Results of a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Popp, Roland Fj; Maier, Stefanie; Rothe, Siegfried; Zulley, Jürgen; Crönlein, Tatjana; Wetter, Thomas C; Rupprecht, Rainer; Hajak, Göran

2015-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of traffic noise along the motorway on sleep quality, sleepiness, and vigilant attention in long-haul truck drivers. This was a randomized, crossover, within-subject controlled study. Healthy long-haul truck drivers spent 6 consecutive nights in a real truck berth with full sleep laboratory equipment. During 3 nights, subjects were exposed to replayed traffic noise alongside motorways, whereas the other 3 nights were without traffic noise. Polysomnography was recorded during the nights and numerous sleepiness tests and vigilance examinations were performed during the following standardized working day. Outcome measures were compared between noisy and silent nights using the paired Wilcoxon test. Ten healthy long-haul truck drivers with a mean age of 36.3 ± 7.3 years completed the study as planned. On noisy nights, subjects had greater latencies to the rapid eye movement (REM) phase (90 ± 32 min vs 69 ± 16 min, P = 0.074) and higher percentages of sleep stage 1 (13.7 ± 5.5% vs 11.2 ± 4.4%; P = 0.059). Subjects also rated their sleep quality as having been better during nights without noise (28.1 ± 3.7 vs 30.3 ± 6.2, P = 0.092). The impact of these differences on daytime sleepiness and vigilance was rather low; however, mean Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) scores measured during the course of the following day were higher on six out of eight occasions after noisy nights. The effects of overnight traffic noise on sleep quality are detectable but unlikely to have any major impact on the vigilant attention and driving performance of long haul-truck drivers with low nocturnal noise sensitivity. This might not be true for subgroups prone to sleeping disorders.

Reduction of the safety and health risk associated with the generation of dust on strip coal mine haul roads.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Thompson, RJ

2000-01-01

Full Text Available mine haul roads. This would be used to identify suitable spray-on or mix-in surface treatments to reduce the generation of dust, within the constraints of cost effectiveness and maintainability, through consideration of wearing course material type...

Electromechanical stress in transformers caused by three-phase short-circuits; Estresse eletromecanico em transformadores causado por curtos-circuitos trifasicos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosentino, A.J.J. Pereira; Delaiba, A.C.; Saraiva, E.; Oliveira, J.C. de; Lynce, M. [Universidade Federal de Uberlandia (UFU), MG (Brazil). Fac. de Engenharia Eletrica], Emails: arnaldoufu@gmail.com, delaiba@ufu.br, elise.saraiva@yahoo.com.br, jcoliveira@ufu.br, lynce@ufu.br; Bronzeado, H. de S. [Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco (CHESF), Recife, PE (Brazil)], Emails: herivelto.bronzeado@gmail.com, hebron@chesf.gov.br

2009-07-01

One of the reasons for internal failures of transformers is the weakness of the isolation of its conductors/coils due to vibrations caused by electromechanics forces produced by the high short-circuit currents. In this context, this paper presents a methodology to estimate the electromechanical stress in transformers caused by three-phase short circuits. Details of the characteristics of radial and axial forces that can occur in concentric windings of transformers, focusing mainly on the axial are presented. It is presented the preliminary description of techniques for diagnosis and monitoring of transformers in the face of mechanical stress caused by short circuit. This study considers the transformers core involved.

Optimal routing for efficient municipal solid waste transportation by using ArcGIS application in Chennai, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanjeevi, V; Shahabudeen, P

2016-01-01

Worldwide, about US$410 billion is spent every year to manage four billion tonnes of municipal solid wastes (MSW). Transport cost alone constitutes more than 50% of the total expenditure on solid waste management (SWM) in major cities of the developed world and the collection and transport cost is about 85% in the developing world. There is a need to improve the ability of the city administrators to manage the municipal solid wastes with least cost. Since 2000, new technologies such as geographical information system (GIS) and related optimization software have been used to optimize the haul route distances. The city limits of Chennai were extended from 175 to 426 km(2) in 2011, leading to sub-optimum levels in solid waste transportation of 4840 tonnes per day. After developing a spatial database for the whole of Chennai with 200 wards, the route optimization procedures have been run for the transport of solid wastes from 13 wards (generating nodes) to one transfer station (intermediary before landfill), using ArcGIS. The optimization process reduced the distances travelled by 9.93%. The annual total cost incurred for this segment alone is Indian Rupees (INR) 226.1 million. Savings in terms of time taken for both the current and shortest paths have also been computed, considering traffic conditions. The overall savings are thus very meaningful and call for optimization of the haul routes for the entire Chennai. © The Author(s) 2015.

Electroluminescence Caused by the Transport of Interacting Electrons through Parallel Quantum Dots in a Photon Cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Gudmundsson, Vidar; Abdulla, Nzar Rauf; Sitek, Anna; Goan, Hsi-Sheng; Tang, Chi-Shung; Manolescu, Andrei

2018-02-01

We show that a Rabi-splitting of the states of strongly interacting electrons in parallel quantum dots embedded in a short quantum wire placed in a photon cavity can be produced by either the para- or the dia-magnetic electron-photon interactions when the geometry of the system is properly accounted for and the photon field is tuned close to a resonance with the electron system. We use these two resonances to explore the electroluminescence caused by the transport of electrons through the one- and two-electron ground states of the system and their corresponding conventional and vacuum electroluminescense as the central system is opened up by coupling it to external leads acting as electron reservoirs. Our analysis indicates that high-order electron-photon processes are necessary to adequately construct the cavity-photon dressed electron states needed to describe both types of electroluminescence.

Aeolian sand transport and aeolian deposits on Venus: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Kreslavsly, Mikhail A.; Bondarenko, Nataliya V.

2017-06-01

We review the current state of knowledge about aeolian sand transport and aeolian bedforms on planet Venus. This knowledge is limited by lack of observational data. Among the four planetary bodies of the Solar System with sufficient atmospheres in contact with solid surfaces, Venus has the densest atmosphere; the conditions there are transitional between those for terrestrial subaerial and subaqueous transport. The dense atmosphere causes low saltation threshold and short characteristic saltation length, and short scale length of the incipient dunes. A few lines of evidence indicate that the typical wind speeds exceed the saltation threshold; therefore, sand transport would be pervasive, if sand capable of saltation is available. Sand production on Venus is probably much slower than on the Earth; the major terrestrial sand sinks are also absent, however, lithification of sand through sintering is expected to be effective under Venus' conditions. Active transport is not detectable with the data available. Aeolian bedforms (transverse dunes) resolved in the currently available radar images occupy a tiny area on the planet; however, indirect observations suggest that small-scale unresolved aeolian bedforms are ubiquitous. Aeolian transport is probably limited by sand lithification causing shortage of saltation-capable material. Large impact events likely cause regional short-term spikes in aeolian transport by supplying a large amount of sand-size particles, as well as disintegration and activation of older indurated sand deposits. The data available are insufficient to understand whether the global aeolian sand transport occurs or not. More robust knowledge about aeolian transport on Venus is essential for future scientific exploration of the planet, in particular, for implementation and interpretation of geochemical studies of surface materials. High-resolution orbital radar imaging with local to regional coverage and desirable interferometric capabilities is the

Saltwater nectotizing fasciitis following coral reef laceration possibly exacerbated by a long-haul flight: a case report.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Byrne, Ann-Maria

2009-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Necrotising fasciits is a rapidly progressive disease characterised by extensive necrosis of the fascia, skin, and subcutaneous tissue, with relative sparing of the underlying muscle. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 24-year old Irish male student who sustained a laceration to his right shin from contact with a coral reef while swimming in the Phuket region, off the west coast of Thailand. The following day, he returned to Ireland and presented with an aggressive and destructive variant of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal necrotising fasciitis originating at the site of the coral reef injury, and exacerbated by the long-haul flight. He was successfully treated with aggressive surgical debridement, vacuum-assisted dressings, split skin grafting and broad spectrum antibiotics. CONCLUSION: Necrotising fasciitis can progress rapidly to systemic toxicity and even death without expedient diagnosis and aggressive treatment. Long-haul flights induce significant fluid accumulation in the lower extremity. These physiological fluid shifts may have contributed to the severity of our patient\\'s necrotizing condition following his flight from Thailand.

Bacteria that Travel: The Quality of Aircraft Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harald Handschuh

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The travelling population is increasing globally year on year. International tourist arrival figures reached 1087 million in 2013 and 1133 million in 2014; of which 53% and 54% respectively accounted for air transport. The water on board aircraft is sourced from surface or ground water; piped to a central filling point and distributed to each aircraft by water service vehicles at the home base or at the destination airport. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the microbial, chemical (pH; Total and Free chlorine and physical (temperature quality of water from two aircraft, long- and short-haul, as well as from the original water source and the water service vehicle. A total of 154 water samples were collected and analysed. Long-haul flights were found to be significantly poorer in terms of microbial quality than short haul flights (p = 0.015. Furthermore, correlation and regression analysis showed that the water service vehicle was a significant source of increased microbial load in aircraft. Microbial diversity was also demonstrated, with 37 bacterial species identified belonging to eight classes: γ-Proteobacteria; β-Proteobacteria; α-Proteobacteria; Bacilli; Actinobacteria; Flavobacteria; Sphingobacteria and Cytophaga; using phenotypic and 16S rDNA sequence-based analysis. We present a novel quantified study of aircraft-related potable water supplies.

Minimization of municipal solid waste transportation route in West Jakarta using Tabu Search method

Science.gov (United States)

Chaerul, M.; Mulananda, A. M.

2018-04-01

Indonesia still adopts the concept of collect-haul-dispose for municipal solid waste handling and it leads to the queue of the waste trucks at final disposal site (TPA). The study aims to minimize the total distance of waste transportation system by applying a Transshipment model. In this case, analogous of transshipment point is a compaction facility (SPA). Small capacity of trucks collects the waste from waste temporary collection points (TPS) to the compaction facility which located near the waste generator. After compacted, the waste is transported using big capacity of trucks to the final disposal site which is located far away from city. Problem related with the waste transportation can be solved using Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). In this study, the shortest distance of route from truck pool to TPS, TPS to SPA, and SPA to TPA was determined by using meta-heuristic methods, namely Tabu Search 2 Phases. TPS studied is the container type with total 43 units throughout the West Jakarta City with 38 units of Armroll truck with capacity of 10 m3 each. The result determines the assignment of each truck from the pool to the selected TPS, SPA and TPA with the total minimum distance of 2,675.3 KM. The minimum distance causing the total cost for waste transportation to be spent by the government also becomes minimal.

Effects of Self-Efficacy on Healthy Eating Depends on Normative Support: a Prospective Study of Long-Haul Truck Drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Kyra; Hagger, Martin S

2018-04-01

Fruit and vegetable intake (FV) is insufficient in industrialized nations and there is excess of discretionary food choices (DC; foods high in fat, sugar, and salt). Long-haul truck drivers are considered a particularly at-risk group given the limited food choices and normatively reinforced eating habits at truck rest-stops. Self-efficacy and normative support are key determinants of eating behavior yet the processes underlying their effects on behavior are not well understood. We tested the direct and interactive effects of self-efficacy and normative support on healthy eating behaviors in long-haul truck drivers in a prospective correlational study. Long-haul truck drivers (N = 82) completed an initial survey containing self-report measures of behavioral intentions, perceived normative support, and self-efficacy for their FV and DC behaviors. Participants completed a follow-up survey 1 week later in which they self-reported their FV and DC behavior. A mediated moderation analysis identified an interactive effect of self-efficacy and normative support on behavior mediated by intention for FV and DC behavior. Specifically, we confirmed a compensation effect in which self-efficacy was more likely to have an effect on FV and DC behavior through intentions in participants with low normative support. Results indicate the importance of self-efficacy in predicting FV and DC intentions and behavior in the absence of a supportive normative environment. The compensatory effect of self-efficacy beliefs on behavior through intentions when normative support is low should be confirmed using experimental methods.

Crew factors in flight operations II : psychophysiological responses to short-haul air transport operations

Science.gov (United States)

1994-11-01

This report is the second in a series on the physiological and psychological effects of flight operations on flight crews, and on the operational significance of these effects. This overview presents a comprehensive review and interpretation of the m...

Effect of hypobaric hypoxia, simulating conditions during long-haul air travel, on coagulation, fibrinolysis, platelet function, and endothelial activation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Toff, William D.; Jones, Chris I.; Ford, Isobel; Pearse, Robert J.; Watson, Henry G.; Watt, Stephen J.; Ross, John A. S.; Gradwell, David P.; Batchelor, Anthony J.; Abrams, Keith R.; Meijers, Joost C. M.; Goodall, Alison H.; Greaves, Michael

2006-01-01

CONTEXT: The link between long-haul air travel and venous thromboembolism is the subject of continuing debate. It remains unclear whether the reduced cabin pressure and oxygen tension in the airplane cabin create an increased risk compared with seated immobility at ground level. OBJECTIVE: To

Photo-identification, site fidelity, and movement of female gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) between haul-outs in the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Karlsson, Olle; Hiby, Lex; Lundberg, Torkel; Jüssi, Mart; Jüssi, Ivar; Helander, Björn

2005-12-01

The growing gray seal population in the Baltic Sea has led to increased conflicts with fisheries. Despite limited data on gray seal ecology, management measures, such as culling, have been implemented recently. We studied movements and site fidelity of Baltic gray seals using mark-recapture analysis based on photographic identification of individuals (photo-id). Seals were photographed at the major summer haul-out sites. Profile photographs of the head and neck were matched using purpose-written software to generate a database of capture histories from 1995-2000. The haul-outs were grouped into seven areas. Darroch's method (20) for a two-sample capture-recapture census was adapted to estimate rates of movement between the areas. The majority of seals were estimated to remain within the same area, suggesting that Baltic gray seals exhibit a high degree of site fidelity during the summer, and that fidelity to a site lasts for more than one season.

Investigate the causes of transport and tramming accidents on coal mines.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Rushworth, AM

1999-03-01

Full Text Available Transport and tramming accidents on coal mines in South Africa are a major component in the overall pattern of colliery accidents. Furthermore, there is now a widespread acceptance that human error is a common cause of failure in accident patterns...

UF{sub 6} tiedowns for truck transport - right way/wrong way

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stout, F.W. Jr. [Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

1991-12-31

Tiedown systems for truck transport of UF{sub 6} must be defined and controlled to assure the least risk for hauling the material over the highways. This paper and an associated poster display will present the current status of regulatory criteria for tiedowns, analyze the structural stresses involved in tiedowns for two major UF{sub 6} packaging systems, the 21PF series of overpacks and the 48 in. diameter shipping cylinders, and will present photographs showing some {open_quote}right ways{close_quotes} and some {open_quotes}wrong (or risky) ways{close_quotes} currently used for tiedown systems. Risky tiedown methods must be replaced with safer less risky methods to insure the safe transport of UF{sub 6}.

Evaluation and modelling of haul road dust palliatives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, R.J.; Visser, A.T.

2000-07-01

Excessive dust generation from mine haul roads is a problem common to most surface coal mining operations. Optimal warning course material selection parameters reduce, but do not totally eliminate the potential to produce dust. For existing operations, which may not have optimally designed and maintained roads, the problem of identifying existing deficiencies, quantifying their impact and assigning priorities within the constraints of limited capital and manpower is problematic. This is reflected in the fact that most surface mine operators agree dust-free roads are desirable, but find it difficult to translate this into cost-effective betterment activities. This paper describes a dust palliative evaluation, management and costing strategy. Models are described which enable mines to assess the likely dustiness of their chosen wearing course materials as a function of surface loading of fines, traffic types and volume, together with various material parameters. These models are then combined with palliative suppression performance models to enable predictions to be made concerning the suppression- and cost-efficiency of various dust palliation options. 13 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs.

Exploration of Configuration Options for a Large Civil Compound Helicopter

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Carl; Johnson, Wayne

2013-01-01

Multiple compound helicopter configurations are designed using a combination of rotorcraft sizing and comprehensive analysis codes. Results from both the conceptual design phase and rotor comprehensive analysis are presented. The designs are evaluated for their suitability to a short-to-medium-haul civil transport mission carrying a payload of 90 passengers. Multiple metrics are used to determine the best configuration, with heavy emphasis placed on minimizing fuel burn.

Long-Haul Dense Space Division Multiplexed Transmission over Low-Crosstalk Heterogeneous 32-Core Transmission Line Using Partial Recirculating Loop System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mizuno, Takayuki; Shibahara, Kohki; Ye, Feihong

2017-01-01

In this paper, we present long-haul 32-core dense space division multiplexed (DSDM) unidirectional transmission over a single-mode multicore transmission line. We developed a low-crosstalk heterogeneous 32-core fiber with a square lattice arrangement, and a novel partial recirculating loop system...

Sleep quality in long haul truck drivers: A study on Iranian national data.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeghniiat-Haghighi, Khosro; Yazdi, Zohreh; Kazemifar, Amir-Mohammad

2016-08-01

Iran has a high rate of road traffic accidents. Poor quality of sleep brings about loss of attention, which is an important cause of road traffic accidents particularly in monotonous roads. The causes of poor quality of sleep in occupational drivers are multifactorial. The objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of poor sleep quality among occupational drivers with rotating work schedules and analyze its different risk factors. 2200 professional long-haul truck drivers who had been referred to the Occupational Health Clinic for routine education course were invited. We obtained data from eight provinces from various parts of Iran during 2012-2013. Data were collected using a questionnaire including questions about demographic and job characteristics. Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess drivers' sleep quality. Mean working (driving) time was (9.3±2.5) hours daily and (55.5 ± 18.29) hours weekly. About 23.5% of the drivers reported history of smoking, 14.5% had low job satisfaction and 60% had irregular work schedule. 16.4% of drivers had an accidents leading to injury during the past five years. The mean PSQI score was 4.2 ± 2.7; 54% had a PSQI>5 (poor quality of sleep). Multivariate logistic regression showed that smoking, job satisfaction, history of accidents, shift work and work hours per day were the most important risk factors for poor sleep quality. Results obtained from the current study showed a high prevalence of poor quality of sleep among professional drivers. It warrants more attention to this significant problem using some measures to improve working conditions in professional drivers, as well as health promotion interventions.

Investigation of the potential barrier lowering for quasi-ballistic transport in short channel MOSFETs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jaehong; Kwon, Yongmin; Ji, Junghwan; Shin, Hyungcheol

2011-01-01

In this paper, the quasi-ballistic carrier transport in short channel MOSFETs is investigated from the point of potential barrier lowering. To investigate the ballistic characteristic of transistors, we extracted the channel backscattering coefficient and the ballistic ratio from experimental data obtained by RF C-V and DC I-V measurements. Two factors that modulate the potential barrier height, besides the gate bias, are considered in this work: the drain bias (V DS ) and the channel doping concentration (N A ). We extract the critical length by calculating the potential drop in the channel region and conclude that the drain bias and the channel doping concentration affect the quasi-ballistic carrier transport.

Overview of the environmental concerns of coal transportation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bertram, K.; Dauzvardis, P.; Fradkin, L.; Surles, T.

1980-02-01

More than 30 environmental concerns were analyzed for the transportation of coal by rail, roads (trucks), high voltage transmission lines (that is, from mine-mouth generating plants to distribution networks), coal slurry pipelines, and barges. The following criteria were used to identify these problems: (1) real physical environmetal impacts for which control technologies must be developed, or regulation made effective where control technologies presently exist; (2) the level of impact is uncertain, although the potential impact may be moderate to high; (3) the concerns identified by the first two criteria are specific to or exacerbated by coal transportation. Generic transportation problems are not included. The significant environmental problems identified as a result of this study are: (1) rail transport - community traffic disruption and human health, safety, and habitat destruction; (2) coal haul roads - road degradation, traffic congestion and safety, air quality, and noise; (3) high voltage transmission lines - changed land use without local benefits, biological health and safety effects, and disruption of world weather patterns; (4) slurry pipelines - water availability, water quality, and possible spills from non-water slurry pipelines; and (5) barge transport - impacts common to all barge traffic. (DMC)

Promoting physical activity and reducing climate change : Opportunities to replace short car trips with active transportation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maibach, E.; Steg, L.; Anable, J.

2009-01-01

Automobile use is a significant contributor to climate change, local air pollution, pedestrian injuries and deaths, declines in physical activity and obesity. A significant proportion of car use is for short trips that can relatively easily be taken with active transportation options - walking or

MRI features of growth hormone deficiency in children with short stature caused by pituitary lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Chao; Zhang, Xinxian; Dong, Lina; Zhu, Bin; Xin, Tao

2017-06-01

We verified the advantages of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for improving the diagnostic quality of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children with short stature caused by pituitary lesions. Clinical data obtained from 577 GHD patients with short stature caused by pituitary lesions were retrospectively analyzed. There were 354 cases (61.3%) with anterior pituitary dysplasia; 45 cases (7.8%) of pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS); 15 cases (2.6%) of pituitary hyperplasia due to primary hypothyroidism; 38 cases (6.6%) of Rathke cleft cyst; 68 cases (11.8%) of empty sella syndrome; 16 cases (2.8%) of pituitary invasion from Langerhans cell histiocytosis; 2 cases (0.3%) of sellar regional arachnoid cyst and 39 cases (6.8%) of craniopharyngioma. MRI results showed that the height of anterior pituitary in patients was less than normal. Location, size and signals of posterior pituitary and pituitary stalk were normal in anterior pituitary dysplasia. In all cases pituitary hyperplasia was caused by hypothyroidism. MRI results showed that anterior pituitary was enlarged, and we detected upward apophysis and obvious homogeneous enhancement. There were no pituitary stalk interruption and abnormal signal. We also observed that after hormone replacement therapy the size of pituitary gland was reduced. Anterior pituitary atrophy was observed in Rathke cleft cyst, empty sella syndrome, sellar regional arachnoid cyst and craniopharyngioma. The microstructure of hypophysis and sellar region was studied with MRI. We detected pituitary lesions, and the characteristics of various pituitary diseases of GHD in children with short stature. It was concluded that in children with GHD caused by pituitary lesions, MRI was an excellent method for early diagnosis. This method offers clinical practicability and we believe it can be used for differential diagnosis and to monitor the therapeutic effects.

Output variability caused by random seeds in a multi-agent transport simulation model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paulsen, Mads; Rasmussen, Thomas Kjær; Nielsen, Otto Anker

2018-01-01

Dynamic transport simulators are intended to support decision makers in transport-related issues, and as such it is valuable that the random variability of their outputs is as small as possible. In this study we analyse the output variability caused by random seeds of a multi-agent transport...... simulator (MATSim) when applied to a case study of Santiago de Chile. Results based on 100 different random seeds shows that the relative accuracies of estimated link loads tend to increase with link load, but that relative errors of up to 10 % do occur even for links with large volumes. Although...

Low energy beam transport system developments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dudnikov, V., E-mail: vadim@muonsinc.com [Muons, Inc., Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Han, B.; Stockli, M.; Welton, R. [ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Dudnikova, G. [University of Maryland, College Park, MD 3261 (United States); Institute of Computational Technologies SBRAS, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation)

2015-04-08

For high brightness beam production it is important to preserve the brightness in the low energy beam transport system (LEBT) used to transport and match the ion beams to the next stage of acceleration, usually an RFQ. While electrostatic focusing can be problematic for high current beam transport, reliable electrostatic LEBT operation has been demonstrated with H{sup −} beams up to 60 mA. Now, however, it is commonly accepted that an optimal LEBT for high current accelerator applications consists of focusing solenoids with space charge compensation. Two-solenoid LEBTs are successfully used for high current (>100 mA) proton beam transport. Preservation of low emittances (~0.15 π mm-mrad) requires the addition of a heavy gas (Xe, Kr), which causes ~5% of proton loss in a 1 m long LEBT. Similar Xe densities would be required to preserve low emittances of H{sup −} beams, but such gas densities cause unacceptably high H{sup −} beam losses. A short LEBT with only one short solenoid, movable for RFQ matching, can be used for reduced negative ion stripping. A strong electrostatic-focusing LEBT has been successfully adopted for transport of high current H{sup −} beams in the SNS Front End. Some modifications of such electrostatic LEBTs are expected to improve the reliable transport of intense positive and negative ion beams without greatly degrading their low emittances. We concentrate on processes that determine the beam brightness degradation and on their prevention. Proposed improvements to the SNS electrostatic LEBT are discussed.

Analysis of the market for diesel PEM fuel cell auxiliary power units onboard long-haul trucks and of its implications for the large-scale adoption of PEM FCs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Contestabile, Marcello

2010-01-01

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM FCs) offer a promising alternative to internal combustion engines in road transport. During the last decade PEM FC research, development and demonstration (RD and D) activities have been steadily increasing worldwide, and targets have been set to begin their commercialisation in road transport by 2015-2020. However, there still is considerable uncertainty on whether these targets will actually be met. The picture is complex and market and technology issues are closely interlinked; investment in RD and D projects is essential but not sufficient; the development of suitable early markets is also necessary and policy is set to play an important role. Auxiliary power units (APUs) are generally regarded as one important early market for FCs in transport. This paper analyses the possible future market for diesel PEM FC APUs onboard long-haul trucks and its implications for the development of PEM FCs in general. The analysis, part of the project HyTRAN (EC Contract no. 502577), is aided by the use of a dynamic simulation model of technology and markets developed by the author. Results suggest that an interesting window of opportunity for diesel PEM FC APUs exists but this is subject to additional research particularly targeted at the rapid development of fuel processors.

Comments on the article by MM. R. Haul, H. Behnke, H. Dietrich 'die messung von gleichgewichtskonstanten des deuterium-aus-tausches zwischen schwefelwasserstoff und wasser'; Remarques sur l'article de MM. R. Haul, H. Behnke, H. Dietrich 'die messung von gleichgewichtskonstanten des deuterium-aus-tausches zwischen schwefelwasserstoff und wasser'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grandcollot, P; Roth, E [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France).Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1960-07-01

MM. HAUL, BEHNKE and DIETRICH, having determined the isotopic exchange constant between water and hydrogen sulphide at 25 deg. C, obtain a value different from ours. A comparison of the techniques employed (these authors use a method of mass balance whilst we use a direct method) and of the isotopic analysis methods, and also our checks carried out from the spectrographic data, show that our determinations are appreciably more accurate. (author) [French] MM. HAUL, BEHNKE et DIETRICH, ayant determine la constante d'echange isotopique entre l'eau et l'hydrogene sulfure a 25 deg. C, obtiennent une valeur differente de la notre. La comparaison des modes operatoires (ces auteurs utilisent une methode par bilan alors que nous employons une methode directe) et des methodes d'analyse isotopique, ainsi que le controle que nous effectuons a partir des donnees spectrographiques, montrent que nos determinations sont notablement plus precises. (auteur)

Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High Level Waste to Yucca Mountain: The Next Step in Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweeney, Robin L.; Lechel, David J.

2003-01-01

In the U.S. Department of Energy's ''Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada,'' the Department states that certain broad transportation-related decisions can be made. These include the choice of a mode of transportation nationally (mostly legal-weight truck or mostly rail) and in Nevada (mostly rail, mostly legal-weight truck, or mostly heavy-haul truck with use of an associated intermodal transfer station), as well as the choice among alternative rail corridors or heavy-haul truck routes with use of an associated intermodal transfer station in Nevada. Although a rail line does not service the Yucca Mountain site, the Department has identified mostly rail as its preferred mode of transportation, both nationally and in the State of Nevada. If mostly rail is selected for Nevada, the Department would then identify a preference for one of the rail corridors in consultation with affected stakeholders, particularly the State of Nevada. DOE would then select the rail corridor and initiate a process to select a specific rail alignment within the corridor for the construction of a rail line. Five proposed rail corridors were analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement. The assessment considered the impacts of constructing a branch rail line in the five 400-meter (0.25mile) wide corridors. Each corridor connects the Yucca Mountain site with an existing mainline railroad in Nevada

Nevada potential repository preliminary transportation strategy Study 2. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-02-01

The objectives of this study were to build on the findings of the Nevada Potential Repository Preliminary Transportation Strategy Study 1 (CRWMS M ampersand O 1995b), and to provide additional information for input to the repository environmental impact statement (EIS) process. In addition, this study supported the future selection of a preferred rail corridor and/or heavy haul route based on defensible data, methods, and analyses. Study research did not consider proposed legislation. Planning was conducted according to the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program Plan (DOE 1994a). The specific objectives of Study 2 were to: eliminate or reduce data gaps, inconsistencies, and uncertainties, and strengthen the analysis performed in Study 1; develop a preliminary list of rail route evaluation criteria that could be used to solicit input from stakeholders during scoping meetings. The evaluation criteria will be revised based on comments received during scoping; restrict and refine the width of the four rail corridors identified in Study 1 to five miles or less, based on land use constraints and engineering criteria identified and established in Study 2; evaluate national-level effects of routing spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste to the four identified branch lines, including the effects of routing through or avoiding Las Vegas; continue to gather published land use information and environmental data to support the repository EIS; continue to evaluate heavy haul truck transport over three existing routes as an alternative to rail and provide sufficient information to support the repository EIS process; and evaluate secondary uses for rail (passenger use, repository construction, shared use)

Experience from the transportation of irradiated WWER-440 fuel assemblies at the Kozloduy NPP site after a short cooling time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoyanova, I.; Kamenov, A.; Byrzev, L.; Christoskov, I.

2003-01-01

Results from the analysis and experimental verification of the radiation and shielding characteristics of non-standard loading patterns of the VSPOT transport cask used for transportation of irradiated fuel assemblies after a short cooling time (120 180 days) on the site of the Kozloduy NPP are presented. An additional safety criterion related to the introduced modifications to the standard procedure of using the transport cask is formulated and discussed (Authors)

Alertness management in flight operations - Strategic napping

Science.gov (United States)

Rosekind, Mark R.; Gander, Philippa H.; Dinges, David F.

1991-01-01

Strategic napping in two different flight operation environments is considered to illustrate its application as a fatigue countermeasure. Data obtained from commercial short-haul and long-haul operations demonstrated the utility and current practices of strategic napping. A preplanned cockpit nap acted as an acute 'safety valve' for the sleep loss, circadian disruption, and fatigue that occurs in long-haul flying.

Prevalence of fatigue in a group of airline pilots.

Science.gov (United States)

Reis, Cátia; Mestre, Catarina; Canhão, Helena

2013-08-01

Fatigue is a common phenomenon in airline pilots that can impair alertness and ability of crewmembers to safely operate an aircraft and perform safety related tasks. Fatigue can increase the risk of an incident or even an accident. This study provides the first prevalence values for clinically significant fatigue in Portuguese airline pilots. The hypothesis that medium/short-haul pilots may currently present different levels of fatigue than long-haul pilots was also tested. A survey was conducted by requesting Portuguese airline pilots to complete questionnaires placed in the pilots' personal lockers from 1 April until 15 May 2012. The questionnaire included the self-response Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) to measure subjective fatigue and some additional questions concerning perception of fatigue by pilots. The prevalence values for total and mental fatigue achieved in the Portuguese airline pilots were: 89.3% (FSS > or = 4) and 94.1% (FSS > or = 4) when splitting the sample in two subsamples, long- and medium/short-haul pilots. Levels of total and mental fatigue were higher for medium/short-haul pilots. The analysis of fatigue levels in each type of aviator showed that medium/short-haul pilots presented the highest levels of total and mental fatigue. This study produced the first prevalence values of total and mental fatigue among Portuguese airline pilots, which represents a great step to understanding and addressing this critical phenomenon.

Application of powered lift and mechanical flap concepts for civil short-haul transport aircraft design

Science.gov (United States)

Conlon, J. A.; Bowles, J. V.

1977-01-01

The objective of this paper is to determine various design and performance parameters, including wing loading and thrust loading requirements, for powered-lift and mechanical flap conceptual aircraft constrained by field length and community noise impact. Mission block fuel and direct operating costs (DOC) were found for optimum designs. As a baseline, the design and performance parameters were determined for the aircraft using engines without noise suppression. The constraint of the 90 EPNL noise contour being less than 2.6 sq km (1.0 sq mi) in area was then imposed. The results indicate that for both aircraft concepts the design gross weight, DOC, and required mission block fuel decreased with field length. At field lengths less than 1100 m (3600 ft) the powered lift aircraft had lower DOC and block fuel than the mechanical flap aircraft but produced higher unsuppressed noise levels. The noise goal could easily be achieved with nacelle wall treatment only and thus resulted in little or no performance or weight penalty for all studied aircraft.

Acute inescapable stress alleviates fear extinction recall deficits caused by serotonin transporter abolishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Schipper, Pieter; Henckens, Marloes J A G; Lopresto, Dora; Kozicz, Tamas; Homberg, Judith R

2018-07-02

Life stress increases risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more prominently so in short-allele carriers of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR). Serotonin transporter knockout (5-HTT -/- ) rats show compromised extinction (recall) of conditioned fear, which might mediate the increased risk for PTSD and reduce the therapeutic efficacy of exposure therapy. Here, we assessed whether acute inescapable stress (IS) differentially affects fear extinction and extinction recall in 5-HTT -/- rats and wildtype controls. Surprisingly, IS experience improved fear extinction recall in 5-HTT -/- rats to the level of wildtype animals, while wildtypes were unaffected by this IS. Thus, whereas 5-HTT -/- rats evidently were more responsive to the stressor, the behavioral consequences presented themselves as adaptive. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Calcium transport in turtle bladder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabatini, S.; Kurtzman, N.A.

1987-01-01

Unidirectional 45 Ca fluxes were measured in the turtle bladder under open-circuit and short-circuit conditions. In the open-circuited state net calcium flux (J net Ca ) was secretory (serosa to mucosa). Ouabain reversed J net Ca to an absorptive flux. Amiloride reduced both fluxes such that J net Ca was not significantly different from zero. Removal of mucosal sodium caused net calcium absorption; removal of serosal sodium caused calcium secretion. When bladders were short circuited, J net Ca decreased to approximately one-third of control value but remained secretory. When ouabain was added under short-circuit conditions, J net Ca was similar in magnitude and direction to ouabain under open-circuited conditions (i.e., absorptive). Tissue 45 Ca content was ≅30-fold lower when the isotope was placed in the mucosal bath, suggesting that the apical membrane is the resistance barrier to calcium transport. The results obtained in this study are best explained by postulating a Ca 2+ -ATPase on the serosa of the turtle bladder epithelium and a sodium-calcium antiporter on the mucosa. In this model, the energy for calcium movement would be supplied, in large part, by the Na + -K + -ATPase. By increasing cell sodium, ouabain would decrease the activity of the mucosal sodium-calcium exchanger (or reverse it), uncovering active calcium transport across the serosa

Development of a system for real-time measurements of metabolite transport in plants using short-lived positron-emitting radiotracers

Science.gov (United States)

Kiser, Matthew R.

Over the past 200 years, the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) concentration has increased by more than 35%, and climate experts predict that CO2 levels may double by the end of this century. Understanding the mechanisms of resource management in plants is fundamental for predicting how plants will respond to the increase in atmospheric CO 2. Plant productivity sustains life on Earth and is a principal component of the planet's system that regulates atmospheric CO2 concentration. As such, one of the central goals of plant science is to understand the regulatory mechanisms of plant growth in a changing environment. Short-lived positron-emitting radiotracer techniques provide time-dependent data that are critical for developing models of metabolite transport and resource distribution in plants and their microenvironments. To better understand the effects of environmental changes on resource transport and allocation in plants, we have developed a system for real-time measurements of rnetabolite transport in plants using short-lived positron-emitting radio-tracers. This thesis project includes the design, construction, and demonstration of the capabilities of this system for performing real-time measurements of metabolite transport in plants. The short-lived radiotracer system described in this dissertation takes advantage of the combined capabilities and close proximity of two research facilities at. Duke University: the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) and the Duke University Phytotron, which are separated by approximately 100 meters. The short-lived positron-emitting radioisotopes are generated using the 10-MV tandem Van de Graaff accelerator located in the main TUNL building, which provides the capability of producing short-lived positron-emitting isotopes such as carbon-11 (11C: 20 minute half-life), nitrogen-13 (13N; 10 minute half-life), fluorine-18 (18F; 110 minute half-life), and oxygen-15 (15O; 2 minute half-life). The radioisotopes may

Transport increase and confinement degradation caused by MARFE

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Peng; Zhuang, Ge; Gao, Li; Zhou, Yinan

2017-10-01

Recently, the MARFE phenomenon associated with high density plasmas has been observed on J-TEXT Ohmically heated discharges. The MARFE on J-TEXT is charactered by the poloidally local region at high field side (HFS) edge with high density and strong radiation. At the almost same time of MARFE appearance, the density peaking factor and sawtooth oscillation reach maximum and decrease with density increasing, infers that the plasma confinement is saturated. By analyzing the far-forward scattering signals from polarimeter-interferometer, it is found that the local radial density turbulence at high field edge increases significantly after MARFE onset. It is inferred that the local particle transport at MARFE affected region (HFS edge) is enhanced. The enhancement of radial transport at MARFE affected region is considered as the possible reason for confinement saturation on J-TEXT. Furthermore, the trapped electron mode (TEM) with quasi-coherent characteristics is measured by far-forward scattering. The TEMs are always observed in plasmas with low density, and disappear after the plasma density exceeds a threshold. The density threshold of TEM disappearance is consistent with the density threshold of MARFE onset. The evolution of turbulences affirms that the MARFE may be the cause of energy confinement transition from LOC to SOC.

Flying the Needles: Flight Deck Automation Erodes Fine-Motor Flying Skills Among Airline Pilots.

Science.gov (United States)

Haslbeck, Andreas; Hoermann, Hans-Juergen

2016-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of practice and training on fine-motor flying skills during a manual instrument landing system (ILS) approach. There is an ongoing debate that manual flying skills of long-haul crews suffer from a lack of flight practice due to conducting only a few flights per month and the intensive use of automation. However, objective evidence is rare. One hundred twenty-six randomly selected airline pilots had to perform a manual flight scenario with a raw data precision approach. Pilots were assigned to four equal groups according to their level of practice and training by fleet (short-haul, long-haul) and rank (first officer, captain). Average ILS deviation scores differed significantly in relation to the group assignments. The strongest predictor variable was fleet, indicating degraded performance among long-haul pilots. Manual flying skills are subject to erosion due to a lack of practice on long-haul fleets: All results support the conclusion that recent flight practice is a significantly stronger predictor for fine-motor flying performance than the time period since flight school or even the total or type-specific flight experience. Long-haul crews have to be supported in a timely manner by adequate training tailored to address manual skills or by operational provisions like mixed-fleet flying or more frequent transitions between short-haul and long-haul operation. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Urban Transportation Planning Short Course: Evaluation of Alternative Transportation Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Federal Highway Administration (DOT), Washington, DC.

This urban transportation pamphlet delves into the roles of policy groups and technical staffs in evaluating alternative transportation plans, evaluation criteria, systems to evaluate, and evaluation procedures. The introduction admits the importance of subjective, but informed, judgment as an effective tool in weighing alternative transportation…

Long-Haul Truck Sleeper Heating Load Reduction Package for Rest Period Idling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lustbader, Jason Aaron; Kekelia, Bidzina; Tomerlin, Jeff; Kreutzer, Cory J.; Yeakel, Skip; Adelman, Steven; Luo, Zhiming; Zehme, John

2016-04-05

Annual fuel use for sleeper cab truck rest period idling is estimated at 667 million gallons in the United States, or 6.8% of long-haul truck fuel use. Truck idling during a rest period represents zero freight efficiency and is largely done to supply accessory power for climate conditioning of the cab. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's CoolCab project aims to reduce heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) loads and resulting fuel use from rest period idling by working closely with industry to design efficient long-haul truck thermal management systems while maintaining occupant comfort. Enhancing the thermal performance of cab/sleepers will enable smaller, lighter, and more cost-effective idle reduction solutions. In addition, if the fuel savings provide a one- to three-year payback period, fleet owners will be economically motivated to incorporate them. For candidate idle reduction technologies to be implemented by original equipment manufacturers and fleets, their effectiveness must be quantified. To address this need, several promising candidate technologies were evaluated through experimentation and modeling to determine their effectiveness in reducing rest period HVAC loads. Load reduction strategies were grouped into the focus areas of solar envelope, occupant environment, conductive pathways, and efficient equipment. Technologies in each of these focus areas were investigated in collaboration with industry partners. The most promising of these technologies were then combined with the goal of exceeding a 30% reduction in HVAC loads. These technologies included 'ultra-white' paint, advanced insulation, and advanced curtain design. Previous testing showed more than a 35.7% reduction in air conditioning loads. This paper describes the overall heat transfer coefficient testing of this advanced load reduction technology package that showed more than a 43% reduction in heating load. Adding an additional layer of advanced insulation

Features of formation of car-traffic in a regional transportation system in conditions the multi-agents organization of a railway transportation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandr Leonidovich Kazakov

2011-09-01

Full Text Available As a result of structural reform of Russian railways, a host of agents that provide customers with loading resources, especially wagons for transport by railway. These processes reduce in efficiency of the car fleet, increasing transportation costs, shortage of cars for many customers, an increase of empty runs and, as a result, a depletion of a number of sections of the network carrying capacity at a reduced total volume of rail traffic. The article describes the reasons for this situation due to the mismatch occurred heterogeneity of rolling stock to existing planning conditions and tariffs. It is also shown that the inefficiency of decentralized car fleet contributes to the predominance of tree-type network, and the importance of this factor in the new environment has increased substantially. To ensure the efficient operation of rail transport as a systemic industry, providing mass-haul transport, it is proposed for integration into a regional logistics. Freight terminals regional logistics transportation and distribution system (RLTRS is appropriate to create on the basis of major freight railway stations. Thus, the adaptation of planning car traffic volume and train formation to modern standards, the establishment of tariff incentives and long-term changes in network configuration are considered as a prerequisite for the transformation of local transport and technological systems on the network of Russian railways into the integrated transport and logistics systems.

Upgrade of optical WDM transport systems introducing linerates at 40 Gbit/s per channel

Science.gov (United States)

Schneiders, Malte; Vorbeck, Sascha; Aust, Nora

2006-10-01

Driven by high growth rates of internet traffic the question of upgrading existing optical metro-, regio- and long haul transport networks introducing 40 Gbit/s/λ is one of the most important questions today and in the near future. Current WDM Systems in photonic networks are commonly operated at linerates of 2.5 and 10 Gbit/s/λ. Induced by market analyses and the historical development of transport systems some work has already been carried out to evaluate update scenarios from 10 to 40 Gbit/s channel data rates. Due to the inherent quadruplication of the bandwidth per channel, limitations due to linear and non-linear transmission impairments become stronger resulting in a highly increased complexity of link engineering, potentially increasing the capital and operational expenditures. A lot of work is therefore in progress, which targets at the relaxation of constraints for 40 Gbit/s transmission to find the most efficient upgrade strategies. One approach towards an increased robustness against signal distortions is the introduction of more advanced modulation formats. Different modulation schemes show strongly different optical WDM transmission characteristics. The choice of the appropriate format does not only depend on the technical requirements, but also on economical considerations as an increased transmitter- and receiver-complexity will drive the transponder price. This article presents investigations on different modulation formats for the upgrade of existing metro-/ regio and long haul transport networks. Tolerances and robustness against the main degrading effects dispersion, noise and nonlinearities are considered together with mitigation strategies like the adaptation of dispersion maps. Results from numerical simulations are provided for some of the most promising modulation formats like NRZ, RZ, CS-RZ, Optical Duobinary and DPSK.

Assessment of the most significant causes of transportation and machinery accidents on collieries

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Oberholzer, JW

1995-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to identify those areas, classified according to the SAMRASS data base system under the codes relating to underground transport and machinery type accidents that give cause to the greatest amount of accidents...

Identification and characterization of jasmonate transporters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lambertz, Sophie Konstanze

of the stimulus but also in distal tissues. The systemic accumulation has been the focus of many studies, which proposed that jasmonate is transported over long and short distances to induce defense responses. However, our knowledge of jasmonate transporting elements is marginal. In this thesis, two jasmonate...... Spodoptera littoralis and the fungus Botrytis cinerea was tested. Wounding assays indicate that the JEFFs are involved in systemic induction of the defense compounds glucosinolates, which may be caused by a JEFF mediated shift of jasmonate precursors to the biologically active form of jasmonates. Further...

Navigating the plant cell: intracellular transport logistics in the green kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Geitmann, Anja; Nebenführ, Andreas

2015-10-01

Intracellular transport in plant cells occurs on microtubular and actin arrays. Cytoplasmic streaming, the rapid motion of plant cell organelles, is mostly driven by an actin-myosin mechanism, whereas specialized functions, such as the transport of large cargo or the assembly of a new cell wall during cell division, are performed by the microtubules. Different modes of transport are used, fast and slow, to either haul cargo over long distances or ascertain high-precision targeting, respectively. Various forms of the actin-specific motor protein myosin XI exist in plant cells and might be involved in different cellular functions. © 2015 Geitmann and Nebenführ. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Correction: The effect of recombination under short-circuit conditions on the determination of charge transport properties in nanostructured photoelectrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Villanueva-Cab, J; Anta, J A; Oskam, G

2016-05-28

Correction for 'The effect of recombination under short-circuit conditions on the determination of charge transport properties in nanostructured photoelectrodes' by J. Villanueva-Cab et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 2303-2308.

Optimal Placement Method of RFID Readers in Industrial Rail Transport for Uneven Rail Traflc Volume Management

Science.gov (United States)

Rakhmangulov, Aleksandr; Muravev, Dmitri; Mishkurov, Pavel

2016-11-01

The issue of operative data reception on location and movement of railcars is significant the constantly growing requirements of the provision of timely and safe transportation. The technical solution for efficiency improvement of data collection on rail rolling stock is the implementation of an identification system. Nowadays, there are several such systems, distinguished in working principle. In the authors' opinion, the most promising for rail transportation is the RFID technology, proposing the equipping of the railway tracks by the stationary points of data reading (RFID readers) from the onboard sensors on the railcars. However, regardless of a specific type and manufacturer of these systems, their implementation is affiliated with the significant financing costs for large, industrial, rail transport systems, owning the extensive network of special railway tracks with a large number of stations and loading areas. To reduce the investment costs for creation, the identification system of rolling stock on the special railway tracks of industrial enterprises has developed the method based on the idea of priority installation of the RFID readers on railway hauls, where rail traffic volumes are uneven in structure and power, parameters of which is difficult or impossible to predict on the basis of existing data in an information system. To select the optimal locations of RFID readers, the mathematical model of the staged installation of such readers has developed depending on the non-uniformity value of rail traffic volumes, passing through the specific railway hauls. As a result of that approach, installation of the numerous RFID readers at all station tracks and loading areas of industrial railway stations might be not necessary,which reduces the total cost of the rolling stock identification and the implementation of the method for optimal management of transportation process.

System-of-Systems Considerations in the Notional Development of a Metropolitan Aerial Transportation System. [Implications as to the Identification of Enabling Technologies and Reference Designs for Extreme Short Haul VTOL Vehicles With Electric Propulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso, Juan J.; Arneson, Heather M.; Melton, John E.; Vegh, Michael; Walker, Cedric; Young, Larry A.

2017-01-01

There are substantial future challenges related to sustaining and improving efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly transportation options for urban regions. Over the past several decades there has been a worldwide trend towards increasing urbanization of society. Accompanying this urbanization are increasing surface transportation infrastructure costs and, despite public infrastructure investments, increasing surface transportation "gridlock." In addition to this global urbanization trend, there has been a substantial increase in concern regarding energy sustainability, fossil fuel emissions, and the potential implications of global climate change. A recently completed study investigated the feasibility of an aviation solution for future urban transportation (refs. 1, 2). Such an aerial transportation system could ideally address some of the above noted concerns related to urbanization, transportation gridlock, and fossil fuel emissions (ref. 3). A metro/regional aerial transportation system could also provide enhanced transportation flexibility to accommodate extraordinary events such as surface (rail/road) transportation network disruptions and emergency/disaster relief responses.

The loss of efficiency caused by agents' uncoordinated routing in transport networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Zhongzhi; Sun, Li; Wang, Junjie; Wang, Pu

2014-01-01

Large-scale daily commuting data were combined with detailed geographical information system (GIS) data to analyze the loss of transport efficiency caused by drivers' uncoordinated routing in urban road networks. We used Price of Anarchy (POA) to quantify the loss of transport efficiency and found that both volume and distribution of human mobility demand determine the POA. In order to reduce POA, a small number of highways require considerable decreases in traffic, and their neighboring arterial roads need to attract more traffic. The magnitude of the adjustment in traffic flow can be estimated using the fundamental measure traffic flow only, which is widely available and easy to collect. Surprisingly, the most congested roads or the roads with largest traffic flow were not those requiring the most reduction of traffic. This study can offer guidance for the optimal control of urban traffic and facilitate improvements in the efficiency of transport networks.

Source tagging modeling study of heavy haze episodes under complex regional transport processes over Wuhan megacity, Central China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Miaomiao; Tang, Xiao; Wang, Zifa; Gbaguidi, Alex; Liang, Shengwen; Hu, Ke; Wu, Lin; Wu, Huangjian; Huang, Zhen; Shen, Longjiao

2017-01-01

Wuhan as a megacity of Central China was suffering from severe particulate matter pollution according to previous observation studies, however, the mechanism behind the pollution formation especially the impact of regional chemical transport is still unclear. This study, carried out on the Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (NAQPMS) coupled with an on-line source-tagging module, explores different roles regional transport had in two strong haze episodes over Wuhan in October 2014 and quantitatively assesses the contributions from local and regional sources to PM 2.5 concentration. Validation of predictions based on observations shows modeling system good skills in reproducing key meteorological and chemical features. The first short-time haze episode occurred on 12 October under strong northerly winds, with a hourly PM 2.5 peak of 180 μg m −3 , and was found to be caused primarily by the long-range transport from the northern regions, which contributed 60.6% of the episode's PM 2.5 concentration (versus a total of 32.7% from sources in and near Wuhan). The second episode lasted from the 15–20 October under stable regional large-scale synoptic conditions and weak winds, and had an hourly PM 2.5 peak of 231.0 μg m −3 . In this episode, both the long-distance transport from far regions and short-range transport from the Wuhan-cluster were the primary causes of the haze episode and account for 24.8% and 29.2% of the PM 2.5 concentration respectively. Therefore, regional transport acts as a crucial driver of haze pollution over Wuhan through not only long-range transfer of pollutants, but also short-range aerosol movement under specific meteorological conditions. The present findings highlight the important role of regional transport in urban haze formation and indicate that the joint control of multi city-clusters are needed to reduce the particulate pollution level in Wuhan. - Highlights: • Regional transport impacts studied on two haze

Insomnia with Objective Short Sleep Duration and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality: Sleep Heart Health Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertisch, Suzanne M; Pollock, Benjamin D; Mittleman, Murray A; Buysse, Daniel J; Bazzano, Lydia A; Gottlieb, Daniel J; Redline, Susan

2018-03-07

To quantify the association between insomnia/poor sleep with objective short sleep and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality in the general population. We conducted a time-to-event analysis of Sleep Heart Health Study data. Questionnaires and at-home polysomnography were performed between 1994 -1998. Participants were followed for a median 11.4 years (Q1-Q3, 8.8-12.4 years) until death or last contact. The primary exposure was insomnia or poor sleep with short sleep defined as: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty returning to sleep, early morning awakenings, or sleeping pill use, 16-30 nights/month; and total sleep insomnia/poor sleep with short sleep and CVD, as well as all-cause mortality. Among 4,994 participants (mean age 64.0 ± 11.1 years), 14.1% reported insomnia or poor sleep, of which 50.3% slept insomnia/poor sleep with short sleep group compared with the reference group (HR, 1.29, 95% CI, 1.00, 1.66), but neither the insomnia/poor sleep only nor short sleep only groups were associated with higher incident CVD. Insomnia/poor sleep with objective short sleep was not significantly associated with all-cause mortality (HR, 1.07, 95% CI, 0.86, 1.33). Insomnia/poor sleep with PSG-short sleep was associated with higher risk of incident CVD. Future studies should evaluate the impact of interventions to improve insomnia with PSG-short sleep on CVD.

Transient immune impairment after a simulated long-haul flight.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilder-Smith, Annelies; Mustafa, Fatima B; Peng, Chung Mien; Earnest, Arul; Koh, David; Lin, Gen; Hossain, Iqbal; MacAry, Paul A

2012-04-01

Almost 2 billion people travel aboard commercial airlines every year, with about 20% developing symptoms of the common cold within 1 wk after air travel. We hypothesize that hypobaric hypoxic conditions associated with air travel may contribute to immune impairment. We studied the effects of hypobaric hypoxic conditions during a simulated flight at 8000 ft (2438 m) cruising altitude on immune and stress markers in 52 healthy volunteers (mean age 31) before and on days 1, 4, and 7 after the flight. We did a cohort study using a generalized estimating equation to examine the differences in the repeated measures. Our findings show that the hypobaric hypoxic conditions of a 10-h overnight simulation flight are not associated with severe immune impairment or abnormal IgA or cortisol levels, but with transient impairment in some parameters: we observed a transient decrease in lymphocyte proliferative responses combined with an upregulation in CD69 and CD14 cells and a decrease in HLA-DR in the immediate days following the simulated flight that normalized by day 7 in most instances. These transient immune changes may contribute to an increased susceptibility to respiratory infections commonly seen after long-haul flights.

Transportation of a Spare Stator to Trillo I NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nova, J.R. de; Sanchez Miro, J.L.; Alvaro, C. de

1998-01-01

The shutdown of Trillo NPP due to an irreparable in situ fault in the stator of the electric generator, has resulted in the need to transport a spare stator from Mulheim (Germany) to Trillo I NPP (Spain). The problem occasioned by this type of transport have been exacerbated by the very short period of time available to plan and carry out this operation. Owing to this pressing need, the logistics of the transport were tackled from all possible alternative approaches. Within each one of these alternatives, all available modes were considered, so as to minimise the possibility of an insurmountable difficulty arising and thus making it impossible to continue with trans transportation. The two basic alternatives considered were road and rail. This paper describes the different aspects which intervened in this special transport, especially the following: - The very short time period available for planning and execution - The railway transport mode used - The large number of organisations participating in the operation - The solution to the technical problems caused by the use of different types of transportation equipment - The studies, adaptations and improvements carried out on the different routes - The coordination of the resources used in the operation. (Author)

Hypertensive Cerebral Hemorrhage in a Patient with Turner Syndrome Caused by Deletion in the Short Arm of the X Chromosome.

Science.gov (United States)

Hori, Yusuke S; Ohkura, Takahiro; Ebisudani, Yuki; Umakoshi, Michiari; Ishi, Masato; Oda, Kazunori; Aoi, Mizuho; Inoue, Takushi; Furujo, Mahoko; Tanaka, Hiroyuki; Fukuhara, Toru

2018-01-01

Turner syndrome is a chromosomal disorder usually caused by complete deletion of an X chromosome, with deletion in the short arm of the X chromosome being a rare cause of the condition. Patients with Turner syndrome commonly develop hypertension, and associated vascular complications such as aortic dissection or cerebral hemorrhage have been reported. Cerebral hemorrhage in Turner syndrome is a rare complication, and only a few reports have been published. In these reports, all patients have XO karyotypes or a mosaic type as the cause of Turner syndrome, while no other Turner syndrome types have been documented. In this report, we present for the first time a patient with Turner syndrome caused by deletion in the short arm of the X chromosome who experienced hypertensive hemorrhage as a late complication. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Short chain molecular junctions: Charge transport versus dipole moment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikram, I. Mohamed; Rabinal, M.K.

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The role of dipole moment of organic molecules on molecular junctions has been studied. • Molecular junctions constituted using propargyl molecules of different dipole moments. • The electronic properties of the molecules were calculated using Gaussian software. • Junctions show varying rectification due to their varying dipole moment and orientation. - Abstract: The investigation of the influence of dipole moment of short chain organic molecules having three carbon atoms varying in end group on silicon surface was carried on. Here, we use three different molecules of propargyl series varying in dipole moment and its orientation to constitute molecular junctions. The charge transport mechanism in metal–molecules–semiconductor (MMS) junction obtained from current–voltage (I–V) characteristics shows the rectification behavior for two junctions whereas the other junction shows a weak rectification. The electronic properties of the molecules were calculated using Gaussian software package. The observed rectification behavior of these junctions is examined and found to be accounted to the orientation of dipole moment and electron cloud density distribution inside the molecules

A Cost Effective Method for Determining the Position of Mine Haul Road Defects from the Road Edge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank Sokolic

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a simple method for estimating haul road defect positions from alongside roads. It is a method that is cheap and easy to implement, needing only a minimal amount of field equipment and training. Observers are required to estimate the bearing and distance to a defect, and to record their location using a GPS receiver. All further processing is automated and can be done entirely within a spatially-enabled database management system such as Microsoft SQL Server or PostgreSQL.

The loss of efficiency caused by agents' uncoordinated routing in transport networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhongzhi Xu

Full Text Available Large-scale daily commuting data were combined with detailed geographical information system (GIS data to analyze the loss of transport efficiency caused by drivers' uncoordinated routing in urban road networks. We used Price of Anarchy (POA to quantify the loss of transport efficiency and found that both volume and distribution of human mobility demand determine the POA. In order to reduce POA, a small number of highways require considerable decreases in traffic, and their neighboring arterial roads need to attract more traffic. The magnitude of the adjustment in traffic flow can be estimated using the fundamental measure traffic flow only, which is widely available and easy to collect. Surprisingly, the most congested roads or the roads with largest traffic flow were not those requiring the most reduction of traffic. This study can offer guidance for the optimal control of urban traffic and facilitate improvements in the efficiency of transport networks.

Unintentional stoppages of trucks hauling high-level nuclear waste in Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glickman, T.S.

1991-01-01

Any unintentional stoppage of trucks hauling high-level nuclear waste in Nevada could intensify public concerns about the negative impacts of the Yucca Mountain Project. This paper provides estimates of the expected number and frequency of such stoppages under several alternative scenarios for the routing and volume of the anticipated truck shipments. At least twice as many truck stoppages are expected to occur on freeways as on non-freeways, and at least twice as many are expected to occur in rural areas as in other areas. The expected frequency of such stoppages in the state is estimated to range from about 3 per year to one every 3 1/2 years. About one in every 4 of the stoppages is expected to take place in Las Vegas and 3 out of every 4 are expected to be non-accidents such as mechanical disablements. The minimum duration of the stoppages is expected to be on the order of half an hour for disablements and an hour for accidents

What Causes Cost Overrun in Transport Infrastructure Projects?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyvbjerg, Bent; Holm, Mette K. Skamris; Buhl, Søren L.

cost escalation for three types of project ownership - private, state-owned enterprise and other public ownership - it is shown that the oft-seen claim that public ownership is problematic and private ownership effective in curbing cost escalation is an oversimplification. Type of accountability......This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of causes of cost escalation in transport infrastructure projects. The study is based on a sample of 258 rail, bridge, tunnel and roads projects worth US$90 billion. The focus is on the dependence of cost escalation on (1......) length of project implementation phase, (2) size of project and (3) type of project ownership. First, it is found with very high statistical significance that cost escalation is strongly dependent on length of implementation phase. The policy implications are clear: Decision makers and planners should...

Long-Haul Truck Sleeper Heating Load Reduction Package for Rest Period Idling: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lustbader, Jason; Kekelia, Bidzina; Tomerlin, Jeff; Kreutzer, Cory; Adelman, Steve; Yeakel, Skip; Luo, Zhiming; Zehme, John

2016-03-24

Annual fuel use for sleeper cab truck rest period idling is estimated at 667 million gallons in the United States, or 6.8% of long-haul truck fuel use. Truck idling during a rest period represents zero freight efficiency and is largely done to supply accessory power for climate conditioning of the cab. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's CoolCab project aims to reduce heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) loads and resulting fuel use from rest period idling by working closely with industry to design efficient long-haul truck thermal management systems while maintaining occupant comfort. Enhancing the thermal performance of cab/sleepers will enable smaller, lighter, and more cost-effective idle reduction solutions. In addition, if the fuel savings provide a one- to three-year payback period, fleet owners will be economically motivated to incorporate them. For candidate idle reduction technologies to be implemented by original equipment manufacturers and fleets, their effectiveness must be quantified. To address this need, several promising candidate technologies were evaluated through experimentation and modeling to determine their effectiveness in reducing rest period HVAC loads. Load reduction strategies were grouped into the focus areas of solar envelope, occupant environment, conductive pathways, and efficient equipment. Technologies in each of these focus areas were investigated in collaboration with industry partners. The most promising of these technologies were then combined with the goal of exceeding a 30% reduction in HVAC loads. These technologies included 'ultra-white' paint, advanced insulation, and advanced curtain design. Previous testing showed more than a 35.7% reduction in air conditioning loads. This paper describes the overall heat transfer coefficient testing of this advanced load reduction technology package that showed more than a 43% reduction in heating load. Adding an additional layer of advanced insulation

44. Causes of initiation and promotion of cannabis among local transport drivers of Peshawar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamzullah Khan

2015-10-01

Conclusion: Cannabis smoking is common in local transport drivers. The major causes that are involved in the initiation and progression of cannabis smoking are; driving in young age, poverty, lack of education, easy availability of cannabis, inspiration from colleagues and smoker parents.

Short communication: Pseudomonas azotoformans causes gray discoloration in HTST fluid milk.

Science.gov (United States)

Evanowski, Rachel L; Reichler, Samuel J; Kent, David J; Martin, Nicole H; Boor, Kathryn J; Wiedmann, Martin

2017-10-01

Pseudomonas species are well recognized as dairy product spoilage organisms, particularly due to their ability to grow at refrigeration temperatures. Although Pseudomonas-related spoilage usually manifests itself in flavor, odor, and texture defects, which are typically due to production of bacterial enzymes, Pseudomonas is also reported to cause color defects. Because of consumer complaints, a commercial dairy company shipped 4 samples of high temperature, short time (HTST)-pasteurized milk with distinctly gray colors to our laboratory. Bacterial isolates from all 4 samples were identified as Pseudomonas azotoformans. All isolates shared the same partial 16S rDNA sequence and showed black pigmentation on Dichloran Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol agar. Inoculation of one pigment-producing P. azotoformans isolate into HTST-pasteurized fluid milk led to development of gray milk after 14 d of storage at 6°C, but only in containers that had half of the total volume filled with milk (∼500 mL of milk in ∼1,000-mL bottles). We conclusively demonstrate that Pseudomonas can cause a color defect in fluid milk that manifests in gray discoloration, adding to the palette of color defects known to be caused by Pseudomonas. This information is of considerable interest to the dairy industry, because dairy processors and others may not typically associate black or gray colors in fluid milk with the presence of microbial contaminants but rather with product tampering (e.g., addition of ink) or other inadvertent chemical contamination. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Phonon transport in a curved aluminum thin film due to laser short pulse irradiation

Science.gov (United States)

Mansoor, Saad Bin; Yilbas, Bekir Sami

2018-05-01

Laser short-pulse heating of a curved aluminum thin film is investigated. The Boltzmann transport equation is incorporated to formulate the heating situation. A Gaussian laser intensity distribution is considered along the film arc and time exponentially decaying of pulse intensity is incorporated in the analysis. The governing equations of energy transport in the electron and lattice sub-systems are coupled through the electron-phonon coupling parameter. To quantify the phonon intensity distribution in the thin film, equivalent equilibrium temperature is introduced, which is associated with the average energy of all phonons around a local point when the phonon energies are redistributed adiabatically to an equilibrium state. It is found the numerical simulations that electron temperature follows similar trend to the spatial distribution of the laser pulse intensity at the film edge. Temporal variation of electron temperature does not follow the laser pulse intensity distribution. The rise of temperature in the electron sub-system is fast while it remains slow in the lattice sub-system.

Biomass bale stack and field outlet locations assessment for efficient infield logistics

Science.gov (United States)

Harvested hay or biomass are traditionally baled for better handling and they are transported to the outlet for final utilization. For better management of bale logistics, producers often aggregate bales into stacks so that bale-hauling equipment can haul multiple bales for improved efficiency. Obje...

Investigation on cause of outage of Wide Range Monitor (WRM) in High Temperature engineering Test Reactor (HTTR). Transport operation toward investigation for cause of outage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinohara, Masanori; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Kawamoto, Taiki; Saito, Kenji; Takada, Shoji; Yoshida, Naoaki; Isozaki, Ryosuke; Katsuyama, Kozo; Motegi, Toshihiro

2012-08-01

An event, in which one of WRMs were disabled to detect the neutron flux in the reactor core, occurred during the period of reactor shut down of HTTR in March, 2010. The actual life time of WRM was unexpectedly shorter than the past developed life time. Investigation of the cause of the outage of WRM toward the recovery of the life time up to the developed life is one of the issues to develop the technology basis of High Temperature Gas cooled Reactor (HTGR). Then, a post irradiation examination was planned to specify the damaged part causing the event in the WRM was also planned. For the investigation, the X-ray computed tomography scanner in Fuels Monitoring Facility (FMF). This report describes the preliminary investigation on the cause of outage of the WRM. The results of study for transportation method of the irradiated WRM from HTTR to FMF is also reported with the record to complete the transport operation. (author)

Coexistence of enhanced mobile broadband communications and ultra-reliable low-latency communications in mobile front-haul

Science.gov (United States)

Ying, Kai; Kowalski, John M.; Nogami, Toshizo; Yin, Zhanping; Sheng, Jia

2018-01-01

5G systems are supposed to support coexistence of multiple services such as ultra reliable low latency communications (URLLC) and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) communications. The target of eMBB communications is to meet the high-throughput requirement while URLLC are used for some high priority services. Due to the sporadic nature and low latency requirement, URLLC transmission may pre-empt the resource of eMBB transmission. Our work is to analyze the URLLC impact on eMBB transmission in mobile front-haul. Then, some solutions are proposed to guarantee the reliability/latency requirements for URLLC services and minimize the impact to eMBB services at the same time.

A rare cause of short stature: transsphenoidal encephalocele.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayram, Özhan; Sebahat, Ağladıoğlu Yılmaz; Kadir, Ağladıoğlu; Ali, Koçyiğit

2014-12-01

Basal encephaloceles are rare, accounting for about 1.5% of all encephaloceles. Transsphenoidal encephaloceles represent less than 5% of basal encephaloceles. Respiratory and feeding difficulties due to mass effect in the oral or nasal cavity and episodes of recurrent meningitis are the main clinical features. Diagnosis is established in the first year of life, but without characteristic facies, the diagnosis can be delayed to adolescence or adulthood. We report the case of a 10-year-old boy who presented with short stature and eventually was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency because of mass effect of transsphenoidal encephalocele. Unusual presentation of an encephalocele as a short stature is described.

Transport logistics in pollen tubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chebli, Youssef; Kroeger, Jens; Geitmann, Anja

2013-07-01

Cellular organelles move within the cellular volume and the effect of the resulting drag forces on the liquid causes bulk movement in the cytosol. The movement of both organelles and cytosol leads to an overall motion pattern called cytoplasmic streaming or cyclosis. This streaming enables the active and passive transport of molecules and organelles between cellular compartments. Furthermore, the fusion and budding of vesicles with and from the plasma membrane (exo/endocytosis) allow for transport of material between the inside and the outside of the cell. In the pollen tube, cytoplasmic streaming and exo/endocytosis are very active and fulfill several different functions. In this review, we focus on the logistics of intracellular motion and transport processes as well as their biophysical underpinnings. We discuss various modeling attempts that have been performed to understand both long-distance shuttling and short-distance targeting of organelles. We show how the combination of mechanical and mathematical modeling with cell biological approaches has contributed to our understanding of intracellular transport logistics.

Axonal transport of TDP-43 mRNA granules in neurons is impaired by ALS-causing mutations

Science.gov (United States)

Carrasco, Monica A.; Williams, Luis A.; Winborn, Christina S.; Han, Steve S. W.; Kiskinis, Evangelos; Winborn, Brett; Freibaum, Brian D.; Kanagaraj, Anderson; Clare, Alison J.; Badders, Nisha M.; Bilican, Bilada; Chaum, Edward; Chandran, Siddharthan; Shaw, Christopher E.; Eggan, Kevin C.; Maniatis, Tom; Taylor, J. Paul

2014-01-01

Summary The RNA binding protein TDP-43 regulates RNA metabolism at multiple levels, including transcription, RNA splicing, and mRNA stability. TDP-43 is a major component of the cytoplasmic inclusions characteristic of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and some types of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The importance of TDP-43 in disease is underscored by the fact that dominant missense mutations are sufficient to cause disease, although the role of TDP-43 in pathogenesis is unknown. Here we show that TDP-43 forms cytoplasmic mRNP granules that undergo bidirectional, microtubule-dependent transport in neurons in vitro and in vivo and facilitate delivery of target mRNA to distal neuronal compartments. TDP-43 mutations impair this mRNA transport function in vivo and in vitro, including in stem cell-derived motor neurons from ALS patients bearing any one of three different TDP-43 ALS-causing mutations. Thus, TDP43 mutations that cause ALS lead to partial loss of a novel cytoplasmic function of TDP-43. PMID:24507191

Development of a database system for the calculation of indicators of environmental pressure caused by transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giannouli, Myrsini; Samaras, Zissis; Keller, Mario

2006-01-01

The scope of this paper is to summarise a methodology developed for TRENDS (TRansport and ENvironment Database System-TRENDS). The main objective of TRENDS was the calculation of environmental pressure indicators caused by transport. The environmental pressures considered are associated with air...... emissions from the four main transport modes, i.e. road, rail, ships and air. In order to determine these indicators a system for calculating a range of environmental pressures due to transport was developed within a PC-based MS Access environment. Emphasis is given oil the latest features incorporated...... the production of collective results for all transport modes as well as a comparative assessment of air emissions produced by the various modes. Traffic activity and emission data obtained according to a basic (reference) scenario are displayed for the time period 1970-2020. In addition, a detailed assessment...

Minimization of the Electromagnetic Torque Ripple Caused by the Coils Inter-Turn Short Circuit Fault in Dual-Redundancy Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiguang Chen

2017-11-01

Full Text Available With the development of electric vehicles and More-Electric/All-Electric aircraft, high reliability is required in motor servo systems. The redundancy technique is one of the most effective methods to improve the reliability of motor servo systems. In this paper, the structure of dual-redundancy permanent magnet synchronous motor (DRPMSM with weak thermal coupling and no electromagnetic coupling is analyzed and the mathematical model of this motor is established. However, there is little research on how to suppress the torque ripple caused by short-circuited coils in the DRPMSM. The main contribution of this paper is to present the advantages of DRPMSM and to find a way to suppress the torque ripple caused by the short circuit fault in DRPMSM. In order to improve operation quality and enhance the reliability of DRPMSM after a short circuit occurs, the torque ripple caused by the coils inter-turn short circuit fault in DRPMSM is analyzed in detail. Then, a control method for suppressing the electromagnetic torque ripple of a short-circuited coil is proposed for the first time by using an improved adaptive proportional resonant (PR controller and a proportional integral (PI controller in parallel. PR control is a method of controlling alternating components without steady-state error, and it can be used to suppress torque ripple. DRPMSM adopts speed and current double closed-loop control strategies. An improved adaptive PR controller and a PI controller are employed in parallel for the speed loop, while traditional PI control is adopted in current loop. From the simulation and experimental results, the torque ripple is reduced from 45.4 to 5.6% when the torque ripple suppression strategy proposed in this paper is adopted, in the case that the speed is 600 r/min. The torque ripple suppression strategy based on the PR controller can quickly and effectively suppress the torque ripple caused by the short-circuited coils, which makes the motor speed

Transportation infrastructure between nuclear power plant gates and nearest line-haul networks: Plan and procedure for data development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saricks, C.L.; Singh, M.K.; Stammer, R.E. Jr.

1988-06-01

This study is concerned with the segments of the transportation system that include possible routings over public roads and private (or public) rail links, and waterway access (within 25 miles) from the gates of typical reactor sites to proximate links of what can be termed the national through-route system. These routings are by no means uniform throughout the United States. Local roads and rail links near reactor sites may be subject to a wide variety of jurisdictions for maintenance, repair, and inspection; may or may not (at present) qualify for federal assistance under the Federal-Aid Highway and related funding programs; may or may not meet accepted construction standards for facilities expected to bear heavy loads; and, perhaps most importantly for the spent-fuel transportation program, may be subject to occasional and currently unavoidable disruptions that could seriously impair shipment schedules. The overall objectives of the study are to describe a framework for identifying the characteristics of the near-site transportation networks of all existing nuclear power plants that could give rise to important shipment scheduling and programming constraints. These characteristics cover both transportation infrastructure and existing structural and environmental limitation, and define a scope and schedule for constructing a data base for the transportation networks surrounding all nuclear power plants. 6 refs., 4 figs., 8 tabs

Microwave emulations and tight-binding calculations of transport in polyacetylene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stegmann, Thomas, E-mail: stegmann@icf.unam.mx [Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad s/n, 62210 Cuernavaca (Mexico); Franco-Villafañe, John A., E-mail: jofravil@fis.unam.mx [Instituto de Física, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Apartado Postal J-48, 72570 Puebla (Mexico); Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad s/n, 62210 Cuernavaca (Mexico); Ortiz, Yenni P. [Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad s/n, 62210 Cuernavaca (Mexico); Kuhl, Ulrich [Université de Nice – Sophia Antipolis, Laboratoire de la Physique de la Matière Condensée, CNRS, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice (France); Mortessagne, Fabrice, E-mail: fabrice.mortessagne@unice.fr [Université de Nice – Sophia Antipolis, Laboratoire de la Physique de la Matière Condensée, CNRS, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice (France); Seligman, Thomas H. [Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad s/n, 62210 Cuernavaca (Mexico); Centro Internacional de Ciencias, 62210 Cuernavaca (Mexico)

2017-01-05

A novel approach to investigate the electron transport of cis- and trans-polyacetylene chains in the single-electron approximation is presented by using microwave emulation measurements and tight-binding calculations. In the emulation we take into account the different electronic couplings due to the double bonds leading to coupled dimer chains. The relative coupling constants are adjusted by DFT calculations. For sufficiently long chains a transport band gap is observed if the double bonds are present, whereas for identical couplings no band gap opens. The band gap can be observed also in relatively short chains, if additional edge atoms are absent, which cause strong resonance peaks within the band gap. The experimental results are in agreement with our tight-binding calculations using the nonequilibrium Green's function method. The tight-binding calculations show that it is crucial to include third nearest neighbor couplings to obtain the gap in the cis-polyacetylene. - Highlights: • Electronic transport in individual polyacetylene chains is studied. • Microwave emulation experiments and tight-binding calculations agree well. • In long chains a band-gap opens due the dimerization of the chain. • In short chains edge atoms cause strong resonance peaks in the center of the band-gap.

Microwave emulations and tight-binding calculations of transport in polyacetylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stegmann, Thomas; Franco-Villafañe, John A.; Ortiz, Yenni P.; Kuhl, Ulrich; Mortessagne, Fabrice; Seligman, Thomas H.

2017-01-01

A novel approach to investigate the electron transport of cis- and trans-polyacetylene chains in the single-electron approximation is presented by using microwave emulation measurements and tight-binding calculations. In the emulation we take into account the different electronic couplings due to the double bonds leading to coupled dimer chains. The relative coupling constants are adjusted by DFT calculations. For sufficiently long chains a transport band gap is observed if the double bonds are present, whereas for identical couplings no band gap opens. The band gap can be observed also in relatively short chains, if additional edge atoms are absent, which cause strong resonance peaks within the band gap. The experimental results are in agreement with our tight-binding calculations using the nonequilibrium Green's function method. The tight-binding calculations show that it is crucial to include third nearest neighbor couplings to obtain the gap in the cis-polyacetylene. - Highlights: • Electronic transport in individual polyacetylene chains is studied. • Microwave emulation experiments and tight-binding calculations agree well. • In long chains a band-gap opens due the dimerization of the chain. • In short chains edge atoms cause strong resonance peaks in the center of the band-gap.

Using an operating cost model to analyse the selection of aircraft type on short-haul routes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ssamula, B

2006-08-01

Full Text Available 1998 (Act No 2 of 1998). http://www. gov.za/gazette/acts/1998/a2-98.pdf (30/4/2004). Pyramid Media Group 2003. Commercial aircraft prices. http://www.pyramid.ch/aircr_prices.htm (4/10/2003). Rolls–Royce 2003. Civil aerospace turbofan range. http...:// www.rolls-royce.com/civil/products/turbofans/Default.htm (4/24/2003). Ssamula, B 2004. Developing a cost model for running an airline service. MEng dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria. Stratford, A H1973. Air transport economics...

Short-term and long-term ethanol administration inhibits the placental uptake and transport of valine in rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patwardhan, R.V.; Schenker, S.; Henderson, G.I.; Abou-Mourad, N.N.; Hoyumpa, A.M. Jr.

1981-01-01

Ethanol ingestion during pregnancy causes a pattern of fetal/neonatal dysfunction called the FAS. The effects of short- and long-term ethanol ingestion on the placental uptake and maternal-fetal transfer of valine were studied in rats. The in vivo placental uptake and fetal uptake were estimated after injection of 0.04 micromol of /sub 14/C-valine intravenously on day 20 of gestation in Sprague-Dawley rats. Short-term ethanol ingestion (4 gm/kg) caused a significant reduction in the placental uptake of /sub 14/C-valine by 33%, 60%, and 30%, and 31% at 2.5, 5, 10, and 15 min after valine administration, respectively (p less than 0.01), and a similar significant reduction occurred in the fetal uptake of /sub 14/C-valine (p less than 0.01). Long-term ethanol ingestion prior to and throughout gestation resulted in a 47% reduction in placental valine uptake (p less than 0.01) and a 46% reduction in fetal valine uptake (p less than 0.01). Long-term ethanol feeding from day 4 to day 20 of gestation caused a 32% reduction in placental valine uptake (p less than 0.01) and a 26% reduction in fetal valine uptake (p less than 0.01). We conclude that both short- and long-term ingestion of ethanol inhibit the placental uptake and maternal-fetal transfer of an essential amino acid--valine. An alteration of placental function may contribute to the pathogenesis of the FAS

Integral diagnostic in the failure causes of external corrosion of a natural gas transport pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mora-Mendoza, J.L.; Saucedo-Robles, L.C.; Rodriguez-Clemente, H. [PEMEX Gas y Petroquimica Basica, Subdireccion de Ductos; Marina Nacional 329, Edificio B-1, Piso 8, Col. Huasteca, D.F., CP 11311 (Mexico); Gonzalez-Nunez, M.A. [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Reforma 113, Col. Palmira, Cuernavaca, Morelos, CP 62490 (Mexico); Zavala-Olivares, G.; Hernandez-Gayosso, M.J. [Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Direccion de Exploracion y Produccion, Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas Norte 152, Col. San Bartolo Atepehuacan, D.F., CP 07730 (Mexico)

2011-08-15

The objective of this study consisted in investigating the possible causes which give rise to the presence of low wall pipe thicknesses on a 16'' natural gas transport pipeline, even though during the last 12-year period cathodic protection (CP) potentials were kept in the protection range at which external corrosion should not occur. Results from in-line inspection from a 16'' natural gas transport pipeline showed 46 indications with more than 80% wall thickness lost due to external corrosion in the second segment of the pipeline. Direct inspection at the indication locations, review of the CP system performance, pipeline maintenance programs and studies, allowed to make an integral diagnostic where it was found out that the main cause of external corrosion was an inappropriate coating application since the pipeline construction, this situation has originated the increase of CP shielding effects through time. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Is transport distance correlated with animal welfare and carcass quality of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus)?

Science.gov (United States)

Laaksonen, Sauli; Jokelainen, Pikka; Pusenius, Jyrki; Oksanen, Antti

2017-03-15

Slaughter reindeer are exposed to stress caused by gathering, handling, loading and unloading, and by conditions in vehicles during transport. These stress factors can lead to compromised welfare and trauma such as bruises or fractures, aspiration of rumen content, and abnormal odour in carcasses, and causing condemnations in meat inspection and lower meat quality. We investigated the statistical association of slaughter transport distance with these indices using meat inspection data from years 2004-2016, including inspection of 669,738 reindeer originating from Finnish reindeer herding areas. Increased stress and decreased welfare of reindeer, as indicated by higher incidence of carcass condemnation due to bruises or fractures, aspiration of rumen content, or abnormal odour, were positively associated with systems involving shorter transport distances to abattoirs. Significant differences in incidence of condemnations were also detected between abattoirs and reindeer herding cooperatives. This study indicates that in particular the short-distance transports of reindeer merit more attention. While the results suggest that factors associated with long distance transport, such as driver education, truck design, veterinary supervision, and specialist equipment, may be favourable to reducing pre-slaughter stress in reindeer when compared with short distance transport systems, which occur in a variety of vehicle types and may be done by untrained handlers. Further work is required to elucidate the causal factors to the current results.

Effect of airplane transport of donor livers on post-liver transplantation survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yi; MacQuillan, Gerry; Adams, Leon A; Garas, George; Collins, Megan; Nwaba, Albert; Mou, Linjun; Bulsara, Max K; Delriviere, Luc; Jeffrey, Gary P

2016-11-07

To evaluate the effect of long haul airplane transport of donor livers on post-transplant outcomes. A retrospective cohort study of patients who received a liver transplantation was performed in Perth, Australia from 1992 to 2012. Donor and recipient characteristics information were extracted from Western Australian liver transplantation service database. Patients were followed up for a mean of six years. Patient and graft survival were evaluated and compared between patients who received a local donor liver and those who received an airplane transported donor liver. Predictors of survival were determined by univariate and multivariate analysis using cox regression. One hundred and ninety-three patients received a local donor liver and 93 patients received an airplane transported donor liver. Airplane transported livers had a significantly lower alanine transaminase (mean: 45 U/L vs 84 U/L, P = 0.035), higher donor risk index (mean: 1.88 vs 1.42, P airplane transport retained significance for graft loss (HR = 1.92, 95%CI: 1.16-3.17). One year graft survival was 0.88 for those with a local liver and was 0.71 for those with an airplane transported liver. One year graft loss was due to primary graft non-function or associated with preservation injury in 20.8% of recipients of an airplane transported liver compared with 4.6% in those with a local liver ( P = 0.027). Airplane transport of donor livers was independently associated with reduced graft survival following liver transplantation.

Energy Consumption and Freight Transport Demand in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Bonilla, David

2008-01-01

Considering the externalities of freight transport activity (energy use, accidents, congestion, its related GHG emissions, and lost oil revenues) this article reviews trends from 1990-2005 in truck freight fuel intensity (energy use per tonne-km moved), on road truck fuel economy (L/ 100 km driven......). We review changes in decoupling truck freight activity from GDP. We examine separately five manufacturing sectors using data from Statistics Denmark on vehicle performance for 1980-2006. Our four major findings are: (1) truck freight energy intensity (mj/tonne-km) continues to grow as well as CO2...... emissions; (2) decoupling has not been large enough to reduce overall energy use of truck; (3) because of the absence of fuel economy regulations, a low average vehicle load, increased hauling distance, overall energy use of truck freight will continue to expand; (4) results show that standard freight...

Circulating β-endorphin, adrenocorticotrophic hormone and cortisol levels of stallions before and after short road transport: stress effect of different distances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grasso Loredana

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since transport evokes physiological adjustments that include endocrine responses, the objective of this study was to examine the responses of circulating β-endorphin, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH and cortisol levels to transport stress in stallions. Methods Forty-two healthy Thoroughbred and crossbred stallions were studied before and after road transport over distances of 100, 200 and 300 km. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein: first in a single box immediately before loading (pre-samples, then immediately after transport and unloading on arrival at the breeding stations (post-samples. Results An increase in circulating β-endorphin levels after transport of 100 km (P P P P P > 0.05 between horses of different ages and different breeds were observed for β-endorphin, ACTH and cortisol levels. Conclusion The results obtained for short term transportation of stallions showed a very strong reaction of the adrenocortical system. The lack of response of β-endorphin after transport of 200–300 km and of ACTH after transport of 300 km seems to suggest a soothing effect of negative feedback of ACTH and cortisol levels.

Response of Lemna minor L. to short-term cobalt exposure: The effect on photosynthetic electron transport chain and induction of oxidative damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Begović, Lidija; Mlinarić, Selma; Antunović Dunić, Jasenka; Katanić, Zorana; Lončarić, Zdenko; Lepeduš, Hrvoje; Cesar, Vera

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Cobalt (Co"2"+) impaired the function of oxygen evolving complex (OEC) in L. minor L. • Electron transport through PSII components varied depending on Co"2"+ concentration. • K-band was proven to be suitable parameter for investigation of Co"2"+ toxicity. • Increased lipid peroxidation level showed early oxidative damage induced by Co"2"+. - Abstract: The effect of two concentrations of cobalt (Co"2"+) on photosynthetic activity and antioxidative response in Lemna minor L. were assessed 24, 48 and 72 h after the start of the exposure. Higher concentration of cobalt (1 mM) induced growth inhibition while lower concentration (0.01 mM) increased photosynthetic pigments content. Analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence transients revealed high sensitivity of photosystem II primary photochemistry to excess of Co"2"+ especially at the higher concentration where decreased electron transport beyond primary quinone acceptor Q_A"− and impaired function of oxygen evolving complex (OEC) was observed. Due to impairment of OEC, oxygen production was decreased at higher Co"2"+ concentration. Activity of superoxide dismutase was mainly inhibited while lipid peroxidation increased, at both concentrations, indicating that cobalt-induced oxidative damage after short exposure and moreover, susceptibility of the membranes in the cell to cobalt toxicity. Results obtained in this study suggest possible application of used parameters as tools in assessment of early damage caused by metals.

A Proposal for the Development of a Robot-Based Physical Distribution and Transportation Network for Urban Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thompson, Mary Kathryn; Brooks, Andrew G.

2010-01-01

The personal automobile ushered in a renaissance in individual freedom of movement. This general-purpose vehicle is capable of fulfilling almost all of the local and regional transportation needs of the average citizen. It can commute the owner to work and leisure, ferry passengers, deliver packa...... by the general public. This system is intended to reduce the inefficiency, energy waste, pollution and congestion associated with transporting a large general-purpose vehicle and a human driver in order to deliver small quantities of physical goods in high density urban areas.......The personal automobile ushered in a renaissance in individual freedom of movement. This general-purpose vehicle is capable of fulfilling almost all of the local and regional transportation needs of the average citizen. It can commute the owner to work and leisure, ferry passengers, deliver...... packages and groceries, and in many cases can even haul other modes of transportation like bicycles, snowmobiles, trailers and boats. However, like any general-purpose system, serious inefficiencies must be tolerated in individual tasks in order to provide such a wide breadth of capabilities...

US long-haul truck driver work organization and the association with cardiometabolic disease risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Hege, Adam; Lemke, Michael Kenneth; Apostolopoulos, Yorghos; Perko, Mike; Sönmez, Sevil; Strack, Robert

2017-09-03

Work organization, including long working hours, irregular work schedules, and job stress, has been associated with increased cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk for numerous working populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between work hours, work schedules, job stress, and CMD risk for a sample of US long-haul truck drivers (LHTDs). A nonexperimental, descriptive, cross-sectional design was employed to collect survey and anthropometric data from 260 US LHTDs at a major truck stop. The mean BMI was 33.40 kg/m 2 and mean waist circumference was 114.77 cm. Using logistic regression, researchers found longer work hours, especially greater than 11 hours daily, were associated with increased odds for an extremely high risk of CMD. Results support comprehensive and integrated approaches that address work organization, and in particular long working hours, to reduce drivers' CMD risk.

Hydrogen Fueled Hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine (SOFC-GT) System for Long-Haul Rail Application

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Justin Jeff

Freight movement of goods is the artery for America's economic health. Long-haul rail is the premier mode of transport on a ton-mile basis. Concerns regarding greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions, however, have motivated the creation of annually increasing locomotive emissions standards. Health issues from diesel particulate matter, especially near rail yards, have also been on the rise. These factors and the potential to raise conventional diesel-electric locomotive performance warrants the investigation of using future fuels in a more efficient system for locomotive application. This research evaluates the dynamic performance of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine (SOFC-GT) Hybrid system operating on hydrogen fuel to power a locomotive over a rail path starting from the Port of Los Angeles and ending in the City of Barstow. Physical constraints, representative locomotive operation logic, and basic design are used from a previous feasibility study and simulations are performed in the MATLAB Simulink environment. In-house controls are adapted to and expanded upon. Results indicate high fuel-to-electricity efficiencies of at least 54% compared to a conventional diesel-electric locomotive efficiency of 35%. Incorporation of properly calibrated feedback and feed-forward controls enables substantial load following of difficult transients that result from train kinematics while maintaining turbomachinery operating requirements and suppressing thermal stresses in the fuel cell stack. The power split between the SOFC and gas turbine is deduced to be a deterministic factor in the balance between capital and operational costs. Using hydrogen results in no emissions if renewable and offers a potential of 24.2% fuel energy savings for the rail industry.

Feasibility of modern airships - Preliminary assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Ardema, M. D.

1977-01-01

Attention is given to the NASA program, Feasibility Study of Modern Airships, initiated to investigate potential research and technology programs associated with airship development. A historical survey of the program is presented, including the development of past airship concepts, aerodynamical and design improvements, structure and material concepts, and research in controls, avionics, instrumentation, flight operations, and ground handling. A mission analysis was carried out which considered passenger and cargo transportation, heavy-lift, short-haul applications, surveillance missions, and the transportation of natural gas. A vehicle parametric analysis examined the entire range of airship concepts, discussing both conventional airships and hybrids. Various design options were evaluated, such as choice of structural materials, use of boundary-layer control, and choice of lifting gas.

Effect of regional precursor emission controls on long-range ozone transport – Part 1: Short-term changes in ozone air quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. J. West

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Observations and models demonstrate that ozone and its precursors can be transported between continents and across oceans. We model the influences of 10% reductions in anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NO_x emissions from each of nine world regions on surface ozone air quality in that region and all other regions. In doing so, we quantify the relative importance of long-range transport between all source-receptor pairs, for direct short-term ozone changes. We find that for population-weighted concentrations during the three-month "ozone-season", the strongest inter-regional influences are from Europe to the Former Soviet Union, East Asia to Southeast Asia, and Europe to Africa. The largest influences per unit of NO_x reduced, however, are seen for source regions in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere, which we attribute mainly to greater sensitivity to changes in NO_x in the lower troposphere, and secondarily to increased vertical convection to the free troposphere in tropical regions, allowing pollutants to be transported further. Results show, for example, that NO_x reductions in North America are ~20% as effective per unit NO_x in reducing ozone in Europe during summer, as NO_x reductions from Europe itself. Reducing anthropogenic emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs and carbon monoxide (CO by 10% in selected regions, can have as large an impact on long-range ozone transport as NO_x reductions, depending on the source region. We find that for many source-receptor pairs, the season of greatest long-range influence does not coincide with the season when ozone is highest in the receptor region. Reducing NO_x emissions in most source regions causes a larger decrease in export of ozone from the source region than in ozone production outside of the source region.

Predicting the impacts of new technology aircraft on international air transportation demand

Science.gov (United States)

Ausrotas, R. A.

1981-01-01

International air transportation to and from the United States was analyzed. Long term and short term effects and causes of travel are described. The applicability of econometric methods to forecast passenger travel is discussed. A nomograph is developed which shows the interaction of economic growth, airline yields, and quality of service in producing international traffic.

Remediation of Canada's historic haul route for radium and uranium ores - the northern transportation route - 59303

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geddes, Brian; Wenzel, Chris; Owen, Michael; Gardiner, Mark; Brown, Julie

2012-01-01

Established in the 1930's, the Northern Transportation Route (NTR) served to transport pitchblende ore 2,200 km from the Port Radium Mine in Canada's Northwest Territories to Fort McMurray in Alberta. From there, the ore was shipped 3,000 km by rail to the Town of Port Hope, Ontario, where it was refined for its radium content and used for medical purposes. Later, transport and refinement focussed on uranium. The corridor of lakes, rivers, portages and roads that made up the NTR included a number of transfer points, where ore was unloaded and transferred to other barges or trucks. Ore was occasionally spilled during these transfer operations and, in some cases, subsequently distributed over larger areas as properties were re-developed or modified. In addition, relatively small volumes of ore were sometimes transported by air to the south. Since 1991, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office (LLRWMO), working with communities and its consulting contractors, has conducted surveys to identify and characterize spill sites along the NTR where soils exhibit elevated concentrations of uranium, radium and/or arsenic. In addition to significant areas of impact in Fort McMurray, contamination along the NTR was centered in the Sahtu region near Great Bear Lake and along the southern part of the Slave River. Early radiological investigations found contaminated buildings and soil and occasionally discrete pieces of pitchblende ore at many transfer points and storage areas along the NTR. Where possible, survey work was undertaken in conjunction with property redevelopment activity requiring the relocation of impacted soils (e.g., at Tulita, Fort Smith, Hay River, and Fort McMurray). When feasible to consolidate contaminated material locally, it was placed into Long Term Management Facilities developed to manage and monitor the materials over extended timelines. Radiological activity generated by these engineered facilities are generally below thresholds established by

Experience from transportation of irradiated WWER-440 fuel assemblies at Kozloduy NPP site after a short cooling time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoyanova, I.; Kamenov, A.; Byrzev, L.; Christoskov, I.

2003-01-01

The presented results from the computation and analysis of the radiation characteristics of the irradiated fuel assemblies by the date of their transportation according to the selected loading patterns of the VSPOT cask and following the modified technology of transportation, i.e. without replacement of the pool solution by pure condensate, as well as the corresponding experimental results, confirm the applicability of the newly introduced safety criterion for the selection of a loading pattern of the cask with irradiated fuel assemblies after a short cooling time. The comparison between measured and computed surface dose rates shows that during the procedure of transfer of irradiated fuel assemblies from the pools of Units 1 and 2 to the pools of Kozloduy NPP Units 3 and 4 all safety limits, incl. the radiation protection requirements, were met

In silico investigation of molecular effects caused by missense mutations in creatine transporter protein

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhe; Schwatz, Charles; Alexov, Emil

2011-03-01

Creatine transporter (CT) protein, which is encoded by SLC6A8 gene, is essential for taking up the creatine in the cell, which in turn plays a key role in the spatial and temporal maintenance of energy in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells. It was shown that some missense mutations in CT cause mental retardation, while others are harmless non-synonymous single nucleoside polymorphism (nsSNP). Currently fifteen missense mutations in CT are known, among which twelve are disease-causing. Sequence analysis reveals that there is no clear trend distinguishing disease-causing from harmless missense mutations. Because of that, we built 3D model of the CT using highly homologous template and use the model to investigate the effects of mutations of CT stability and hydrogen bond network. It is demonstrated that disease-causing mutations affect the folding free energy and ionization states of titratable group in much greater extend as compared with harmless mutations. Supported by grants from NLM, NIH, grant numbers 1R03LM009748 and 1R03LM009748-S1.

A proposal of Transport System Improvement in exploiting and processing of raw materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ján Sciranko

2006-09-01

Full Text Available In handling earth, aggregate rock, ore, coal and other materials, trucks serve one purpose. They are hauling units which, because of their high speed when operating on suitable roads, have high capacities and provide relatively low hauling costs.They provide a high degree of flexibility as their number may be decreased or increased easily to permit modifications in the total hauling capacity of a fleet.In cyclic operations, the two principal operations are loading and haulage with hoisting as a third optional. In continuous operations, where machines combine the breakage and handling functions, cutting, drilling and blasting are eliminated and extraction and loading are performed in a single operation or function (excavation, e.g. the bucket wheel excavator, auger, highwall mines, continuous miner or the boring machine.Materials handling in modern mechanized mining is equipment oriented. Unit operations are characterized by, and sometimes identified with, an equipment that performs them. Thus the field terminology refers to a mining shovel, stripping dragline or the coal loader. From time to time the mining engineer is faced with the necessity to make a haulage study to determine not only the most suitable method of hauling materials, but also the most effective and economical type of equipment used for the operation. Key words: truck haulage, material handling, mining shovel

Short communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oskarsson, A.; Yagdiran, Y.; Nazemi, S.

2017-01-01

Mastitis is the most common disease in dairy herds worldwide and is often caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Little is known about the effect of mastitis on transporters in the mammary gland and the effect on transporter-mediated secretion of drugs into milk. We studied gene expressions of ATP-bind...

Response of Lemna minor L. to short-term cobalt exposure: The effect on photosynthetic electron transport chain and induction of oxidative damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Begović, Lidija; Mlinarić, Selma; Antunović Dunić, Jasenka; Katanić, Zorana; Lončarić, Zdenko; Lepeduš, Hrvoje; Cesar, Vera

2016-06-01

The effect of two concentrations of cobalt (Co(2+)) on photosynthetic activity and antioxidative response in Lemna minor L. were assessed 24, 48 and 72h after the start of the exposure. Higher concentration of cobalt (1mM) induced growth inhibition while lower concentration (0.01mM) increased photosynthetic pigments content. Analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence transients revealed high sensitivity of photosystem II primary photochemistry to excess of Co(2+) especially at the higher concentration where decreased electron transport beyond primary quinone acceptor QA(-) and impaired function of oxygen evolving complex (OEC) was observed. Due to impairment of OEC, oxygen production was decreased at higher Co(2+) concentration. Activity of superoxide dismutase was mainly inhibited while lipid peroxidation increased, at both concentrations, indicating that cobalt-induced oxidative damage after short exposure and moreover, susceptibility of the membranes in the cell to cobalt toxicity. Results obtained in this study suggest possible application of used parameters as tools in assessment of early damage caused by metals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Response of Lemna minor L. to short-term cobalt exposure: The effect on photosynthetic electron transport chain and induction of oxidative damage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Begović, Lidija, E-mail: lbegovic@biologija.unios.hr [Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Biology, Ulica cara Hadrijana 8/A, H R -31000 Osijek (Croatia); Mlinarić, Selma, E-mail: smlinaric@biologija.unios.hr [Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Biology, Ulica cara Hadrijana 8/A, H R -31000 Osijek (Croatia); Antunović Dunić, Jasenka, E-mail: jantunovic@biologija.unios.hr [Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Biology, Ulica cara Hadrijana 8/A, H R -31000 Osijek (Croatia); Katanić, Zorana, E-mail: zkatanic@biologija.unios.hr [Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Biology, Ulica cara Hadrijana 8/A, H R -31000 Osijek (Croatia); Lončarić, Zdenko, E-mail: zdenko.loncaric@pfos.hr [Faculty of Agriculture, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Ulica kralja Petra Svačića 1d, H R -31000 Osijek (Croatia); Lepeduš, Hrvoje, E-mail: hlepedus@yahoo.com [Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Lorenza Jägera 9, HR-31000 Osijek (Croatia); Cesar, Vera, E-mail: vcesarus@yahoo.com [Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Biology, Ulica cara Hadrijana 8/A, H R -31000 Osijek (Croatia)

2016-06-15

Highlights: • Cobalt (Co{sup 2+}) impaired the function of oxygen evolving complex (OEC) in L. minor L. • Electron transport through PSII components varied depending on Co{sup 2+} concentration. • K-band was proven to be suitable parameter for investigation of Co{sup 2+} toxicity. • Increased lipid peroxidation level showed early oxidative damage induced by Co{sup 2+}. - Abstract: The effect of two concentrations of cobalt (Co{sup 2+}) on photosynthetic activity and antioxidative response in Lemna minor L. were assessed 24, 48 and 72 h after the start of the exposure. Higher concentration of cobalt (1 mM) induced growth inhibition while lower concentration (0.01 mM) increased photosynthetic pigments content. Analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence transients revealed high sensitivity of photosystem II primary photochemistry to excess of Co{sup 2+} especially at the higher concentration where decreased electron transport beyond primary quinone acceptor Q{sub A}{sup −} and impaired function of oxygen evolving complex (OEC) was observed. Due to impairment of OEC, oxygen production was decreased at higher Co{sup 2+} concentration. Activity of superoxide dismutase was mainly inhibited while lipid peroxidation increased, at both concentrations, indicating that cobalt-induced oxidative damage after short exposure and moreover, susceptibility of the membranes in the cell to cobalt toxicity. Results obtained in this study suggest possible application of used parameters as tools in assessment of early damage caused by metals.

Short sleep duration as a possible cause of obesity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, L S; Danielsen, Karen; Sørensen, T I A

2011-01-01

with particular emphasis on prospective studies. The studies showed that short sleep duration is consistently associated with development of obesity in children and young adults, but not consistently so in older adults. We have identified critical aspects of the evidence, and assessed the possibility...... for interpretation of the evidence in terms of causality. We have discussed the requirement of temporal sequence between putative exposure and outcome and the implications of the time lag between them, the problems in adequate measurements of exposure and effects, the possible bidirectional causal effects......Systematic literature search for epidemiological evidence for an association of short sleep with weight gain and eventual development of obesity provided 71 original studies and seven reviews of various subsets of these studies. We have summarized the evidence for such an association...

A proposed regulatory framework for road and rail freight transport in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wessel Pienaar

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The increase in the number of freight vehicles on South Africa’s rural road network has received substantial attention. Insinuations persist that long-distance road freight haulage is of a somewhat unsavoury economic nature, and that strict economic re-regulation of the land freight transport is necessary. During the 1970s road transport replaced rail carriage as the dominant form of long-distance freight transport (excluding minerals and ore in South Africa. On long hauls road freight carriers transport certain primary products of an organic nature (such as timber, fish and agricultural produce, some semi-finished goods, many finished goods and most consumer goods. Road freight carriers are continuously gaining market share on long-distance links where rail transport is the more cost efficient mode. The greater value added by road freight carriers in comparison with rail transport through service effectiveness is often more than the cost premium paid for utilising their service rather than making use of rail transport. Throughout history, governments have involved themselves in transport. A diverse range of arguments have been advanced for this involvement in transport, including the following:Control of excessive competition, co-ordination of transport, integration of transport with economic policy, maintenance of safety, security, and order, provision of costly infrastructure, provision of public goods, recovery of the true resource cost of transport inputs, regulation of harmful conduct and externalities, restraint of monopoly power, and social support. A set of nine instruments can be identified that governments apply to influence the performance of the freight transport industry: Legislation, direct supply, fiscal measures, monetary measures, moral appeal and persuasion, policies relating to strategic commodities, procurement policy, provision of information, and research and development. The best prospects for a sound development of

Functional analysis of apf1 mutation causing defective amino acid transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Horák, J; Kotyk, A

1993-04-01

Mutation in the Apf1 locus causes a pleiotropic effect of H(+)-driven active amino acid transport in baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The uptake of other, presumably H(+)-driven, substances, e.g. of purine and pyrimidine bases, maltose and phosphate ions, is not significantly influenced by this mutation. The apf1 mutation decreases not only the initial rates of amino acid uptake but also the accumulation ratios of amino acids taken up but has virtually no effect on the membrane potential or on the delta pH which constitute the thermodynamically relevant source of energy for their transport. Similarly, no changes in intracellular ATP content, in ATP-hydrolyzing and H(+)-extruding H(+)-ATPase activities, in the efflux of intracellularly accumulated amino acids, or in rates of endogenous respiration, were observed in the apf1 mutant phenotype. Hence, all these data are in accordance with the experiments showing that the Apf1 protein, an integral protein of the endoplasmic reticulum, is required exclusively for efficient processing and translocation of transport proteins specific for amino acids from the endoplasmic reticulum to their final destination, the plasma membrane.

Pituitary-adrenocortical adjustments to transport stress in horses with previous different handling and transport conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Fazio

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Aim: The changes of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA axis response to a long distance transportation results in increase of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH and cortisol levels. The purpose of the study was to quantify the level of short-term road transport stress on circulating ACTH and cortisol concentrations, related to the effect of previous handling and transport experience of horses. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on 56 healthy horses after short-term road transport of 30 km. The horses were divided into four groups, Groups A, B, C, and D, with respect to the handling quality: Good (Groups A and B, bad (Group D, and minimal handling (Group C conditions. According to the previous transport, experience horses were divided as follows: Horses of Groups A and D had been experienced long-distance transportation before; horses of Groups B and C had been limited experience of transportation. Results: One-way RM-ANOVA showed significant effects of transport on ACTH changes in Groups B and C and on cortisol changes in both Groups A and B. Groups A and B showed lower baseline ACTH and cortisol values than Groups C and D; Groups A and B showed lower post-transport ACTH values than Groups C and D. Groups A, B, and C showed lower post-transport cortisol values than Group D. Only Groups A and B horses have shown an adequate capacity of stress response to transportation. Conclusion: The previous transport experience and quality of handling could influence the HPA axis physiological responses of horses after short-term road transport.

33 CFR 401.1 - Short title.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Short title. 401.1 Section 401.1 Navigation and Navigable Waters SAINT LAWRENCE SEAWAY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SEAWAY REGULATIONS AND RULES Regulations § 401.1 Short title. These regulations may be cited as the...

THE FUTURE OF PASSENGER AIR TRANSPORT – VERY LARGE AIRCRAFT AND OUT KEY HUMAN FACTORS AFFECTING THE OPERATION AND SAFETY OF PASSENGER AIR TRANSPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Skolilova

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article outlines some human factors affecting the operation and safety of passenger air transport given the massive increase in the use of the VLA. Decrease of the impact of the CO2 world emissions is one of the key goals for the new aircraft design. The main wave is going to reduce the burned fuel. Therefore, the eco-efficiency engines combined with reasonable economic operation of the aircraft are very important from an aviation perspective. The prediction for the year 2030 says that about 90% of people, which will use long-haul flights to fly between big cities. So, the A380 was designed exactly for this time period, with a focus on the right capacity, right operating cost and right fuel burn per seat. There is no aircraft today with better fuel burn combined with eco-efficiency per seat, than the A380. The very large aircrafts (VLAs are the future of the commercial passenger aviation. Operating cost versus safety or CO2 emissions versus increasing automation inside the new generation aircraft. Almost 80% of the world aircraft accidents are caused by human error based on wrong action, reaction or final decision of pilots, the catastrophic failures of aircraft systems, or air traffic control errors are not so frequent. So, we are at the beginning of a new age in passenger aviation and the role of the human factor is more important than ever.

Decreased striatal dopamine transporter binding assessed with [123I] FP-CIT in first-episode schizophrenic patients with and without short-term antipsychotic-induced parkinsonism.

Science.gov (United States)

Mateos, Jose J; Lomeña, Francisco; Parellada, Eduardo; Font, Mireia; Fernandez, Emili; Pavia, Javier; Prats, Alberto; Pons, Francisca; Bernardo, Miquel

2005-09-01

Drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) is one of the main causes of treatment drop-out in schizophrenic patients causing a high incidence of relapse that leads patients to a bad clinical prognosis. The dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway is involved in the movement control, so the study of the dopamine transporter (DAT) could be of great value to determine its implication in the appearance of DIP. The goal of the study is to determine the striatal DAT binding assessed with [(123)I] FP-CIT SPECT in first-episode neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic in-patients with DIP after short-term antipsychotic treatment. The [(123)I] FP-CIT binding ratios of ten schizophrenic in-patients who developed DIP during the first 4-week period of risperidone treatment (6+/-2 mg/day) were compared with ten schizophrenic in-patients treated with the same doses of risperidone and who do not developed DIP and with ten age-matched healthy subjects. Quantitative analyses of SPECTs were performed using regions of interest located in caudate, putamen and occipital cortex. Parkinsonism was assessed by the Simpson-Angus Scale and the psychopathological status by the Clinical General Impression and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scales. Whole striatal [(123)I] FP-CIT binding ratios were significantly lower in patients with and without DIP than in healthy subjects (p<0.001). This was also observed in whole putamen (p<0.001) and caudate nucleus (p<0.001). Females showed higher whole striatal [(123)I] FP-CIT binding ratios than males (p<0.05). No differences in psychopathological scales were observed between patients with and without DIP. Our first-episode schizophrenic patients with and without DIP after short-term risperidone treatment have a decreased striatal DAT binding assessed with [(123)I] FP-CIT. This alteration could be related to the schizophrenic disease or may be secondary to the antipsychotic treatment.

A Multi-function Cask for At-Reactor Storage of Short-Cooled Spent Fuel, Transport, and Disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsberg, C.W.

2004-01-01

The spent nuclear fuel (SNF) system in the United States was designed with the assumptions that SNF would be stored for several years in an at-reactor pool and then transported to reprocessing plants for recovery of fissile materials, that security would not be a major issue, and that the SNF burnups would be low. The system has evolved into a once-through fuel cycle with high-burnup SNF, long-term storage at the reactor sites, and major requirements for safeguards and security. An alternative system is proposed to better meet these current requirements. The SNF is placed in multi-function casks with the casks used for at-reactor storage, transport, and repository disposal. The cask is the handling package, provides radiation shielding, and protects the SNF against accidents and assault. SNF assemblies are handled only once to minimize accident risks, maximize security and safeguards by minimizing access to SNF, and reduce costs. To maximize physical protection, the cask body is constructed of a cermet (oxide particles embedded in steel, the same class of materials used in tank armor) and contains no cooling channels or other penetrations that allow access to the SNF. To minimize pool storage of SNF, the cask is designed to accept short-cooled SNF. To maximize the capability of the cask to reject decay heat and to limit SNF temperatures from short-cooled SNF, the cask uses (1) natural circulation of inert gas mixtures inside the cask to transfer heat from the SNF to the cask body and (2) an overpack with external natural-circulation, liquid-cooled fins to transfer heat from the cask body to the atmosphere. This approach utilizes the entire cask body area for heat transfer to maximize heat removal rates-without any penetrations through the cask body that would reduce the physical protection capabilities of the cask body. After the SNF has cooled, the cooling overpack is removed. At the repository, the cask is placed in a corrosion-resistant overpack before disposal

Transport of short lived radioactive contaminants with prologed half-lives of daughters through river water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metwally, S.M.; Prohl, G.

2005-01-01

One of the main pathways for transporting contaminants to other parts in the environment, are rivers. This work is devoted for deriving and assessment the concentration of soluble radio contaminants along a river at any time after discharge, including the short-lived radionuclides in comparison with the discharge time interval, and prolonged half-life of the produced daughter nuclei. The assumed boundary conditions and deduced formulas can be applied either in case of accidental release or discharge under authority control. The formulas determining the produced daughter nuclei concentration require inequality of the parent and daughter nuclei half-lives. Because of the regional variation of river morphology, the assumed constancy of the flow velocity and dispersion coefficient requires dividing the river path into zones of similar hydrologic characteristics

Development of a database system for the calculation of indicators of environmental pressure caused by transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giannouli, Myrsini; Samaras, Zissis [Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics, Mechanical Engineering Department, GR 54124, Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 458 (Greece); Keller, Mario; De Haan, Peter [INFRAS, Muhlemattstrasse 45 CH-3007, Bern (Switzerland); Kallivoda, Manfred [psiA-Consult, Environmental Research and Engineering GmbH, Lastenstrasse 38/1, 1230 Wien (Austria); Sorenson, Spencer; Georgakaki, Aliki [DTU: Technical University of Denmark, Nils Koppels Alle, Building 403, DK 2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark)

2006-03-15

The scope of this paper is to summarise a methodology developed for TRENDS (TRansport and ENvironment Database System-TRENDS). The main objective of TRENDS was the calculation of environmental pressure indicators caused by transport. The environmental pressures considered are associated with air emissions from the four main transport modes, i.e. road, rail, ships and air. In order to determine these indicators a system for calculating a range of environmental pressures due to transport was developed within a PC-based MS Access environment. Emphasis is given on the latest features incorporated in the model and their applications. One of the recently developed features of the software provides an option for simple scenario analysis including vehicle dynamics (such as turnover and evolution) for all EU15 member states. This feature is called the Transport Activity Balance module (TAB) and enables the production of collective results for all transport modes as well as a comparative assessment of air emissions produced by the various modes. Traffic activity and emission data obtained according to a basic (reference) scenario are displayed for the time period 1970-2020. In addition, a detailed assessment of the results produced by TRENDS was conducted by means of comparison with data found in the literature. Finally, vehicle emissions produced by the model for the EU15 member states were spatially disaggregated for the base year, 1995 and GIS maps were generated. Examples of these maps are displayed in this document, for the various modes of transport considered in the study. (author)

Pseudoachondroplasia: A Rare Cause of Short Limbed Dwarfism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K Jagadish Kumar

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Pseudoachondroplasia is a rare type of short-limbed skeletal dysplasia. It is usually found as an autosomal dominant inheritable disorder. Children are normal at birth and they present developmental delay in walking by the age of 2, an abnormal waddling gait or deformities of the lower limb. Diagnosis is based on characteristic clinical and radiological findings. This study reports on a 6-year-old boy with classical features of pseudoachondroplasia.

Measurement of Ultra-Short Solitary Electromagnetic Pulses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Gescheidtova

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In connection with the events of the last few years and with the increased number of terrorist activities, the problem of identification and measurement of electromagnetic weapons or other systems impact occurred. Among these are also microwave sources, which can reach extensive peak power of up to Pmax = 100 MW. Solitary, in some cases several times repeated, impulses lasting from tp E <1, 60>ns, cause the destruction of semiconductor junctions. These days we can find scarcely no human activity, where semiconductor structures are not used. The problem of security support of the air traffic, transportation, computer nets, banks, national strategic data canter’s, and other applications crops up. Several types of system protection from the ultra-short electromagnetic pulses present itself, passive and active protection. The analysis of the possible measuring methods, convenient for the identification and measurement of the ultra-short solitary electromagnetic pulses in presented in this paper; some of the methods were chosen and used for practical measurement. This work is part of Research object MSM262200022 "Research of microelectronic systems".

Short-Rib Polydactyly and Jeune Syndromes Are Caused by Mutations in WDR60

Science.gov (United States)

McInerney-Leo, Aideen M.; Schmidts, Miriam; Cortés, Claudio R.; Leo, Paul J.; Gener, Blanca; Courtney, Andrew D.; Gardiner, Brooke; Harris, Jessica A.; Lu, Yeping; Marshall, Mhairi; Scambler, Peter J.; Beales, Philip L.; Brown, Matthew A.; Zankl, Andreas; Mitchison, Hannah M.; Duncan, Emma L.; Wicking, Carol

2013-01-01

Short-rib polydactyly syndromes (SRPS I–V) are a group of lethal congenital disorders characterized by shortening of the ribs and long bones, polydactyly, and a range of extraskeletal phenotypes. A number of other disorders in this grouping, including Jeune and Ellis-van Creveld syndromes, have an overlapping but generally milder phenotype. Collectively, these short-rib dysplasias (with or without polydactyly) share a common underlying defect in primary cilium function and form a subset of the ciliopathy disease spectrum. By using whole-exome capture and massive parallel sequencing of DNA from an affected Australian individual with SRPS type III, we detected two novel heterozygous mutations in WDR60, a relatively uncharacterized gene. These mutations segregated appropriately in the unaffected parents and another affected family member, confirming compound heterozygosity, and both were predicted to have a damaging effect on the protein. Analysis of an additional 54 skeletal ciliopathy exomes identified compound heterozygous mutations in WDR60 in a Spanish individual with Jeune syndrome of relatively mild presentation. Of note, these two families share one novel WDR60 missense mutation, although haplotype analysis suggested no shared ancestry. We further show that WDR60 localizes at the base of the primary cilium in wild-type human chondrocytes, and analysis of fibroblasts from affected individuals revealed a defect in ciliogenesis and aberrant accumulation of the GLI2 transcription factor at the centrosome or basal body in the absence of an obvious axoneme. These findings show that WDR60 mutations can cause skeletal ciliopathies and suggest a role for WDR60 in ciliogenesis. PMID:23910462

Short Lived Climate Pollutants cause a Long Lived Effect on Sea-level Rise: Analyzing climate metrics for sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Sterner, E.; Johansson, D. J.

2013-12-01

Climate change depends on the increase of several different atmospheric pollutants. While long term global warming will be determined mainly by carbon dioxide, warming in the next few decades will depend to a large extent on short lived climate pollutants (SLCP). Reducing emissions of SLCPs could contribute to lower the global mean surface temperature by 0.5 °C already by 2050 (Shindell et al. 2012). Furthermore, the warming effect of one of the most potent SLCPs, black carbon (BC), may have been underestimated in the past. Bond et al. (2013) presents a new best estimate of the total BC radiative forcing (RF) of 1.1 W/m2 (90 % uncertainty bounds of 0.17 to 2.1 W/m2) since the beginning of the industrial era. BC is however never emitted alone and cooling aerosols from the same sources offset a majority of this RF. In the wake of calls for mitigation of SLCPs it is important to study other aspects of the climate effect of SLCPs. One key impact of climate change is sea-level rise (SLR). In a recent study, the effect of SLCP mitigation scenarios on SLR is examined. Hu et al (2013) find a substantial effect on SLR from mitigating SLCPs sharply, reducing SLR by 22-42% by 2100. We choose a different approach focusing on emission pulses and analyse a metric based on sea level rise so as to further enlighten the SLR consequences of SLCPs. We want in particular to understand the time dynamics of SLR impacts caused by SLCPs compared to other greenhouse gases. The most commonly used physical based metrics are GWP and GTP. We propose and evaluate an additional metric: The global sea-level rise potential (GSP). The GSP is defined as the sea level rise after a time horizon caused by an emissions pulse of a forcer to the sea level rise after a time horizon caused by an emissions pulse of a CO2. GSP is evaluated and compared to GWP and GTP using a set of climate forcers chosen to cover the whole scale of atmospheric perturbation life times (BC, CH4, N2O, CO2 and SF6). The study

Regulation of transport processes across the tonoplast

Science.gov (United States)

Neuhaus, H. Ekkehard; Trentmann, Oliver

2014-01-01

In plants, the vacuole builds up the cellular turgor and represents an important component in cellular responses to diverse stress stimuli. Rapid volume changes of cells, particularly of motor cells, like guard cells, are caused by variation of osmolytes and consequently of the water contents in the vacuole. Moreover, directed solute uptake into or release out of the large central vacuole allows adaptation of cytosolic metabolite levels according to the current physiological requirements and specific cellular demands. Therefore, solute passage across the vacuolar membrane, the tonoplast, has to be tightly regulated. Important principles in vacuolar transport regulation are changes of tonoplast transport protein abundances by differential expression of genes or changes of their activities, e.g., due to post-translational modification or by interacting proteins. Because vacuolar transport is in most cases driven by an electro-chemical gradient altered activities of tonoplast proton pumps significantly influence vacuolar transport capacities. Intense studies on individual tonoplast proteins but also unbiased system biological approaches have provided important insights into the regulation of vacuolar transport. This short review refers to selected examples of tonoplast proteins and their regulation, with special focus on protein phosphorylation. PMID:25309559

Monte Carlo Transport for Electron Thermal Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Chenhall, Jeffrey; Cao, Duc; Moses, Gregory

2015-11-01

The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet multigroup electron thermal transport method of Cao et al. is adapted into a Monte Carlo transport method in order to better model the effects of non-local behavior. The end goal is a hybrid transport-diffusion method that combines Monte Carlo Transport with a discrete diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC). The hybrid method will combine the efficiency of a diffusion method in short mean free path regions with the accuracy of a transport method in long mean free path regions. The Monte Carlo nature of the approach allows the algorithm to be massively parallelized. Work to date on the method will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratory - Albuquerque and the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Assessing sustainable freight policies.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-01

The main aim of the study was to examine transportation demand management strategies related to long haul freight. It investigates freight : movements and truck vehicle miles traveled (TVMT) changes in response to certain transportation policies, inc...

Atypical dopamine efflux caused by 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) via the human dopamine transporter.

Science.gov (United States)

Shekar, Aparna; Aguilar, Jenny I; Galli, Greta; Cozzi, Nicholas V; Brandt, Simon D; Ruoho, Arnold E; Baumann, Michael H; Matthies, Heinrich J G; Galli, Aurelio

2017-10-01

Synthetic cathinones are similar in chemical structure to amphetamines, and their behavioral effects are associated with enhanced dopaminergic signaling. The past ten years of research on the common constituent of bath salts, MDPV (the synthetic cathinone 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone), has aided the understanding of how synthetic cathinones act at the dopamine (DA) transporter (DAT). Several groups have described the ability of MDPV to block the DAT with high-affinity. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time a new mode of action of MDPV, namely its ability to promote DAT-mediated DA efflux. Using single cell amperometric assays, we determined that low concentrations of MDPV (1nM) can cause reverse transport of DA via DAT. Notably, administration of MDPV leads to hyperlocomotion in Drosophila melanogaster. These data describe further how MDPV acts at the DAT, possibly paving the way for novel treatment strategies for individuals who abuse bath salts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DETERMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF CHANGE POWER CHARACTER AND POWER PARAMETERS OF EARTHMOVING- TRANSPORT WORKING PROCESS MACHINES OF CYCLIC ACTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KHMARA L. A.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Summary. Raising of problem. Efficiency of implementation working process an earthmoving-transport machine on digging of soil depends on complete realization of power equipment and hauling properties working equipment during implementation this operation. Most effective will be the mode of digging when from his beginning to the final stage a power equipment will realize nominal power, and working equipment maximal KKD at that skidding of mover does not exceed the defined possible value. However, for the traditional constructions of earthmoving-transport machines cyclic action, for such, as a drag shovel, bulldozer, realizing these terms is heavy. The feature of process digging consists in the increase of resistance to digging soil from the ego of the initial stage to eventual when hauling possibilities of machine will be maximally realized. Therefore the calculation of power equipment takes into account the power indexes of machine on the final stage of digging. Thus the unstationarity of working process results in the under exploitation of power equipment machine and hereupon appearance her bits and pieces. The size of bits and pieces power depends on the stage digging of soil, his physical and mechanical properties, terms cooperation of working equipment with the surface of motion. One of methods realization surplus power, this use it for the drive intensifiers working process of earthmoving-transport machines. Therefore for the effective choice parameters of intensifier, his office hours it is necessary to know the size of bits and pieces of power and character her change during digging of soil. The purpose of the article. Development of methodology determination remaining power equipment an earthmoving-transport machine on the example self-propelled drags hovel, character her change at digging of soil taking into account physical and mechanical properties of soil and terms cooperation working equipment with the surface of motion. Conclusion

Idiopathic short stature

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Vlaški Jovan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Growth is a complex process and the basic characteristic of child- hood growth monitoring provides insight into the physiological and pathological events in the body. Statistically, the short stature means departure from the values of height for age and sex (in a particular environment, which is below -2 standard deviation score, or less than -2 standard deviation, i.e. below the third percentile. Advances in molecular genetics have contributed to the improvement of diagnostics in endocrinology. Analysis of patients’ genotypes should not be performed before taking a classical history, detailed clinical examination and appropriate tests. In patients with idiopathic short stature specific causes are excluded, such as growth hormone deficiency, Turner syndrome, short stature due to low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, small for gestational age, dysmorphology syndromes and chronic childhood diseases. The exclusion of abovementioned conditions leaves a large number of children with short stature whose etiology includes patients with genetic short stature or familial short stature and those who are low in relation to genetic potential, and who could also have some unrecognized endocrine defect. Idiopathic short stature represents a short stature of unknown cause of heterogeneous etiology, and is characterized by a normal response of growth hormone during stimulation tests (>10 ng/ml or 20 mJ/l, without other disorders, of normal body mass and length at birth. In idiopathic short stature standard deviation score rates <-2.25 (-2 to -3 or <1.2 percentile. These are also criteria for the initiation of growth hormone therapy. In children with short stature there is also the presence of psychological and social suffering. Goals of treatment with growth hormone involve achieving normal height and normal growth rate during childhood.

Structural properties of the Chinese air transportation multilayer network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Chen; Zhang, Jun; Cao, Xian-Bin; Du, Wen-Bo

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We investigate the structural properties of the Chinese air transportation multilayer network (ATMN). • We compare two main types of layers corresponding to major and low-cost airlines. • It is found that small-world property and rich-club effect of the Chinese ATMN are mainly caused by major airlines. - Abstract: Recently multilayer networks are attracting great attention because the properties of many real-world systems cannot be well understood without considering their different layers. In this paper, we investigate the structural properties of the Chinese air transportation multilayer network (ATMN) by progressively merging layers together, where each commercial airline (company) defines a layer. The results show that the high clustering coefficient, short characteristic path length and large collection of reachable destinations of the Chinese ATMN can only emerge when several layers are merged together. Moreover, we compare two main types of layers corresponding to major and low-cost airlines. It is found that the small-world property and the rich-club effect of the Chinese ATMN are mainly caused by those layers corresponding to major airlines. Our work will highlight a better understanding of the Chinese air transportation network.

Transmission system for distribution of video over long-haul optical point-to-point links using a microwave photonic filter in the frequency range of 0.01-10 GHz

Science.gov (United States)

Zaldívar Huerta, Ignacio E.; Pérez Montaña, Diego F.; Nava, Pablo Hernández; Juárez, Alejandro García; Asomoza, Jorge Rodríguez; Leal Cruz, Ana L.

2013-12-01

We experimentally demonstrate the use of an electro-optical transmission system for distribution of video over long-haul optical point-to-point links using a microwave photonic filter in the frequency range of 0.01-10 GHz. The frequency response of the microwave photonic filter consists of four band-pass windows centered at frequencies that can be tailored to the function of the spectral free range of the optical source, the chromatic dispersion parameter of the optical fiber used, as well as the length of the optical link. In particular, filtering effect is obtained by the interaction of an externally modulated multimode laser diode emitting at 1.5 μm associated to the length of a dispersive optical fiber. Filtered microwave signals are used as electrical carriers to transmit TV-signal over long-haul optical links point-to-point. Transmission of TV-signal coded on the microwave band-pass windows located at 4.62, 6.86, 4.0 and 6.0 GHz are achieved over optical links of 25.25 km and 28.25 km, respectively. Practical applications for this approach lie in the field of the FTTH access network for distribution of services as video, voice, and data.

MRS systems study, Task F: Transportation impacts of a monitored retrievable storage facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brentlinger, L.A.; Gupta, S.; Plummer, A.M.; Smith, L.A.; Tzemos, S.

1989-05-01

The passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 (NWPAA) modified the basis from which the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) had derived and developed the configuration of major elements of the waste system (repository, monitored retrievable storage, and transportation). While the key aspects of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 remain unaltered, NWPAA provisions focusing site characterization solely at Yucca Mountain, authorizing a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility with specific linkages to the repository, and establishing an MRS Review Commission make it prudent for OCRWM to update its analysis of the role of the MRS in the overall waste system configuration. This report documents the differences in transportation costs and radiological dose under alternative scenarios pertaining to a nuclear waste management system with and without an MRS, to include the effect of various MRS packaging functions and locations. The analysis is limited to the impacts of activities related directly to the hauling of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), including the capital purchase and maintenance costs of the transportation cask system. Loading and unloading impacts are not included in this study because they are treated as facility costs in the other task reports. Transportation costs are based on shipments of 63,000 metric tons of uranium (MTU) of spent nuclear fuel and 7,000 MTU equivalent of HLW. 10 refs., 41 tabs.

Solving vertical transport and chemistry in air pollution models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berkvens, P.J.F.; Botchev, M.A.; Verwer, J.G.; Krol, M.C.; Peters, W.

2000-01-01

For the time integration of stiff transport-chemistry problems from air pollution modelling, standard ODE solvers are not feasible due to the large number of species and the 3D nature. The popular alternative, standard operator splitting, introduces artificial transients for short-lived species. This complicates the chemistry solution, easily causing large errors for such species. In the framework of an operational global air pollution model, we focus on the problem formed by chemistry and vertical transport, which is based on diffusion, cloud-related vertical winds, and wet deposition. Its specific nature leads to full Jacobian matrices, ruling out standard implicit integration. We compare Strang operator splitting with two alternatives: source splitting and an (unsplit) Rosenbrock method with approximate matrix factorization, all having equal computational cost. The comparison is performed with real data. All methods are applied with half-hour time steps, and give good accuracies. Rosenbrock is the most accurate, and source splitting is more accurate than Strang splitting. Splitting errors concentrate in short-lived species sensitive to solar radiation and species with strong emissions and depositions. 30 refs

Short-rib polydactyly and Jeune syndromes are caused by mutations in WDR60.

Science.gov (United States)

McInerney-Leo, Aideen M; Schmidts, Miriam; Cortés, Claudio R; Leo, Paul J; Gener, Blanca; Courtney, Andrew D; Gardiner, Brooke; Harris, Jessica A; Lu, Yeping; Marshall, Mhairi; Scambler, Peter J; Beales, Philip L; Brown, Matthew A; Zankl, Andreas; Mitchison, Hannah M; Duncan, Emma L; Wicking, Carol

2013-09-05

Short-rib polydactyly syndromes (SRPS I-V) are a group of lethal congenital disorders characterized by shortening of the ribs and long bones, polydactyly, and a range of extraskeletal phenotypes. A number of other disorders in this grouping, including Jeune and Ellis-van Creveld syndromes, have an overlapping but generally milder phenotype. Collectively, these short-rib dysplasias (with or without polydactyly) share a common underlying defect in primary cilium function and form a subset of the ciliopathy disease spectrum. By using whole-exome capture and massive parallel sequencing of DNA from an affected Australian individual with SRPS type III, we detected two novel heterozygous mutations in WDR60, a relatively uncharacterized gene. These mutations segregated appropriately in the unaffected parents and another affected family member, confirming compound heterozygosity, and both were predicted to have a damaging effect on the protein. Analysis of an additional 54 skeletal ciliopathy exomes identified compound heterozygous mutations in WDR60 in a Spanish individual with Jeune syndrome of relatively mild presentation. Of note, these two families share one novel WDR60 missense mutation, although haplotype analysis suggested no shared ancestry. We further show that WDR60 localizes at the base of the primary cilium in wild-type human chondrocytes, and analysis of fibroblasts from affected individuals revealed a defect in ciliogenesis and aberrant accumulation of the GLI2 transcription factor at the centrosome or basal body in the absence of an obvious axoneme. These findings show that WDR60 mutations can cause skeletal ciliopathies and suggest a role for WDR60 in ciliogenesis. Copyright © 2013 The American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS) of mule duck is caused by a distinct lineage of Goose parvovirus

OpenAIRE

Palya , Vilmos; Zolnai , Anna; Benyeda , Zsofia; Kovács , Edit; Kardi , Veronika; Mató , Tamás

2009-01-01

Abstract From early `70s till now numerous cases of ?short beak and dwarfism syndrome? have been reported in mule ducks from France. The animals showed strong growth retardation with smaller beak and tarsus. The syndrome was suggested to be caused by goose parvovirus on the basis of serological investigation, but the causative agent has not been isolated and the disease has not been reproduced by experimental infection so far. The aim of the present study was to characterize the vi...

Counts of Alaska Steller sea lion adult and juvenile (non-pup) conducted on rookeries and haul-outs in Alaska Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and others from 1904-01-01 to 2015-07-18 (NCEI Accession 0128190)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains counts of adult and juvenile (non-pup) Steller sea lions on rookeries and haul-outs in Alaska made between 1904 and 2015. Non-pup counts have...

19 CFR 18.6 - Short shipments; shortages; entry and allowance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Short shipments; shortages; entry and allowance...; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY TRANSPORTATION IN BOND AND MERCHANDISE IN TRANSIT General Provisions § 18.6 Short shipments; shortages; entry and allowance. (a) When there has been a short shipment and the short-shipped...

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Transportable Zener-diode Voltage Standard

Science.gov (United States)

Karpov, O. V.; Shulga, V. M.; Shakirzyanova, F. R.; Sarandi, A. E.

1994-01-01

Five transportable Zener-diode dc voltage standards have been developed, fabricated and investigated at the NPO VNIIFTRI. The standards were designed to transfer the unit of electromotive force (emf) from Josephson reference standards to measuring instruments. Following the results of these investigations, standard N 02 has been used for intercomparison of the Russian Josephson reference standards.

Regulation of transport processes across the tonoplast membrane

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliver eTrentmann

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In plants, the vacuole builds up the cellular turgor and represents an important component in cellular responses to diverse stress stimuli. Rapid volume changes of cells, particularly of motor cells, like guard cells, are caused by variation of osmolytes and consequently of the water contents in the vacuole. Moreover, directed solute uptake into or release out of the large central vacuole allows adaptation of cytosolic metabolite levels according to the current physiological requirements and specific cellular demands. Therefore, solute passage across the vacuolar membrane, the tonoplast, has to be tightly regulated. Important principles in vacuolar transport regulation are changes of tonoplast transport protein abundances by differential expression of genes or changes of their activities, e.g. due to post-translational modification or by interacting proteins. Because vacuolar transport is in most cases driven by an electro-chemical gradient altered activities of tonoplast proton pumps significantly influence vacuolar transport capacities. Intense studies on individual tonoplast proteins but also unbiased system biological approaches have provided important insights into the regulation of vacuolar transport. This short review refers to selected examples of tonoplast proteins and their regulation, with special focus on protein phosphorylation.

Mutation of the Arabidopsis NRT1.5 nitrate transporter causes defective root-to-shoot nitrate transport.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shan-Hua; Kuo, Hui-Fen; Canivenc, Geneviève; Lin, Choun-Sea; Lepetit, Marc; Hsu, Po-Kai; Tillard, Pascal; Lin, Huey-Ling; Wang, Ya-Yun; Tsai, Chyn-Bey; Gojon, Alain; Tsay, Yi-Fang

2008-09-01

Little is known about the molecular and regulatory mechanisms of long-distance nitrate transport in higher plants. NRT1.5 is one of the 53 Arabidopsis thaliana nitrate transporter NRT1 (Peptide Transporter PTR) genes, of which two members, NRT1.1 (CHL1 for Chlorate resistant 1) and NRT1.2, have been shown to be involved in nitrate uptake. Functional analysis of cRNA-injected Xenopus laevis oocytes showed that NRT1.5 is a low-affinity, pH-dependent bidirectional nitrate transporter. Subcellular localization in plant protoplasts and in planta promoter-beta-glucuronidase analysis, as well as in situ hybridization, showed that NRT1.5 is located in the plasma membrane and is expressed in root pericycle cells close to the xylem. Knockdown or knockout mutations of NRT1.5 reduced the amount of nitrate transported from the root to the shoot, suggesting that NRT1.5 participates in root xylem loading of nitrate. However, root-to-shoot nitrate transport was not completely eliminated in the NRT1.5 knockout mutant, and reduction of NRT1.5 in the nrt1.1 background did not affect root-to-shoot nitrate transport. These data suggest that, in addition to that involving NRT1.5, another mechanism is responsible for xylem loading of nitrate. Further analyses of the nrt1.5 mutants revealed a regulatory loop between nitrate and potassium at the xylem transport step.

COPA mutations impair ER-Golgi transport causing hereditary autoimmune-mediated lung disease and arthritis

Science.gov (United States)

Watkin, Levi B.; Jessen, Birthe; Wiszniewski, Wojciech; Vece, Timothy; Jan, Max; Sha, Youbao; Thamsen, Maike; Santos-Cortez, Regie L. P.; Lee, Kwanghyuk; Gambin, Tomasz; Forbes, Lisa; Law, Christopher S.; Stray-Petersen, Asbjørg; Cheng, Mickie H.; Mace, Emily M.; Anderson, Mark S.; Liu, Dongfang; Tang, Ling Fung; Nicholas, Sarah K.; Nahmod, Karen; Makedonas, George; Canter, Debra; Kwok, Pui-Yan; Hicks, John; Jones, Kirk D.; Penney, Samantha; Jhangiani, Shalini N.; Rosenblum, Michael D.; Dell, Sharon D.; Waterfield, Michael R.; Papa, Feroz R.; Muzny, Donna M.; Zaitlen, Noah; Leal, Suzanne M.; Gonzaga-Jauregui, Claudia; Boerwinkle, Eric; Eissa, N. Tony; Gibbs, Richard A.; Lupski, James R.; Orange, Jordan S.; Shum, Anthony K.

2015-01-01

Advances in genomics have allowed unbiased genetic studies of human disease with unexpected insights into the molecular mechanisms of cellular immunity and autoimmunity1. We performed whole exome sequencing (WES) and targeted sequencing in patients with an apparent Mendelian syndrome of autoimmune disease characterized by high-titer autoantibodies, inflammatory arthritis and interstitial lung disease (ILD). In five families, we identified four unique deleterious variants in the Coatomer subunit alpha (COPA) gene all located within the same functional domain. We hypothesized that mutant COPA leads to a defect in intracellular transport mediated by coat protein complex I (COPI)2–4. We show that COPA variants impair binding of proteins targeted for retrograde Golgi to ER transport and demonstrate that expression of mutant COPA leads to ER stress and the upregulation of Th17 priming cytokines. Consistent with this pattern of cytokine expression, patients demonstrated a significant skewing of CD4+ T cells toward a T helper 17 (Th17) phenotype, an effector T cell population implicated in autoimmunity5,6. Our findings uncover an unexpected molecular link between a vesicular transport protein and a syndrome of autoimmunity manifested by lung and joint disease. These findings provide a unique opportunity to understand how alterations in cellular homeostasis caused by a defect in the intracellular trafficking pathway leads to the generation of human autoimmune disease. PMID:25894502

Feasibility study of modern airships, phase 1. Volume 2: Parametric analysis (task 3). [lift, weight (mass)

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, J. W.

1975-01-01

Various types of lighter-than-air vehicles from fully buoyant to semibuoyant hybrids were examined. Geometries were optimized for gross lifting capabilities for ellipsoidal airships, modified delta planform lifting bodies, and a short-haul, heavy-lift vehicle concept. It is indicated that: (1) neutrally buoyant airships employing a conservative update of materials and propulsion technology provide significant improvements in productivity; (2) propulsive lift for VTOL and aerodynamic lift for cruise significantly improve the productivity of low to medium gross weight ellipsoidal airships; and (3) the short-haul, heavy-lift vehicle, consisting of a simple combination of an ellipsoidal airship hull and existing helicopter componentry, provides significant potential for low-cost, near-term applications for ultra-heavy lift missions.

Research on Navigation Path Planning for An Underground Load Haul Dump

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi Yulong

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The improved A * algorithm is a method of navigation path planning for articulated underground scrapers. Firstly, an environment model based on a mining Geographic Information System (GIS map is established, and then combined with improved A * algorithm, the underground global path planning problem of the intelligent Load Haul Dump (LHD is solved. In this paper, for the articulated structure, the method of expanding nodes by articulation angle is adopted to make expanded nodes meet the trajectory characteristics. In addition, collision threat cost is introduced in the evaluation function to avoid collisions between the LHD and the tunnel walls. As peran analysis of the simulation test to verify the effectiveness of the improved A * algorithm and a comparison with the traditional A * algorithm, the improved A * algorithm can enhance search efficiency. Acontrast of multiple sets of test parameters suggests that when the price weighted coefficient of collision is 0.2, the shortest path can be derived to avoid impact. Finally, tracking results indicate that the proposed algorithm for navigation path planning can maintain the tracking error to within 0.2 m in line with the structural characteristics of the scraper in the laboratory environment to realize the path planning of unmanned scrapers and trajectory tracking. Moreover, the algorithm can enhance the safety of scrapers and prevent roadway collisions. The feasibility and practicality of the proposed method is verified in this work.

Transport Research Needs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ortúzar, Juan de Dios; Cherchi, Elisabetta; Rizzi, Luis

2014-01-01

Transport is a large, multidisciplinary and fascinating field, encompassing vastly different areas of research. In fact transport interests span from not very well understood (in fieldwork) issues related with survey methods to highly complex questions associated with the dynamic equilibration...... of supply and demand in strategic planning contexts; the latter involving large zoning systems, huge multimodal networks and highly complex dynamic modelling approaches (Mahmassani, 2001). But questions also arise at a more macro level (and in a different time span) regarding the interaction of transport....... For these reasons, in this chapter we will just concentrate on issues related with modelling the demand for travel in the relatively short term. In particular, we will refer to modelling discrete short-term choices, such as mode, route and/or trip timing; although in our analysis we will pay attention to research...

Human RTEL1 deficiency causes Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome with short telomeres and genome instability.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Guen, Tangui; Jullien, Laurent; Touzot, Fabien; Schertzer, Michael; Gaillard, Laetitia; Perderiset, Mylène; Carpentier, Wassila; Nitschke, Patrick; Picard, Capucine; Couillault, Gérard; Soulier, Jean; Fischer, Alain; Callebaut, Isabelle; Jabado, Nada; Londono-Vallejo, Arturo; de Villartay, Jean-Pierre; Revy, Patrick

2013-08-15

Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome (HHS), a severe variant of dyskeratosis congenita (DC), is characterized by early onset bone marrow failure, immunodeficiency and developmental defects. Several factors involved in telomere length maintenance and/or protection are defective in HHS/DC, underlining the relationship between telomere dysfunction and these diseases. By combining whole-genome linkage analysis and exome sequencing, we identified compound heterozygous RTEL1 (regulator of telomere elongation helicase 1) mutations in three patients with HHS from two unrelated families. RTEL1 is a DNA helicase that participates in DNA replication, DNA repair and telomere integrity. We show that, in addition to short telomeres, RTEL1-deficient cells from patients exhibit hallmarks of genome instability, including spontaneous DNA damage, anaphase bridges and telomeric aberrations. Collectively, these results identify RTEL1 as a novel HHS-causing gene and highlight its role as a genomic caretaker in humans.

Drivers' and conductors' views on the causes and ways of preventing workplace violence in the road passenger transport sector in Maputo City, Mozambique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tillgren Per

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Workplace violence (WPV is an occupational health hazard in both low and high income countries. To design WPV prevention programs, prior knowledge and understanding of conditions in the targeted population are essential. This study explores and describes the views of drivers and conductors on the causes of WPV and ways of preventing it in the road passenger transport sector in Maputo City, Mozambique. Methods The design was qualitative. Participants were purposefully selected from among transport workers identified as victims of WPV in an earlier quantitative study, and with six or more years of experience in the transport sector. Data were collected in semi-structured interviews. Seven open questions covered individual views on causes of WPV and its prevention, based on the interviewees' experiences of violence while on duty. Thirty-two transport professionals were interviewed. The data were analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. Results The triggers and causes of violence included fare evasion, disputes over revenue owing to owners, alcohol abuse, overcrowded vehicles, and unfair competition for passengers. Failures to meet passenger expectations, e.g. by-passing parts of a bus route or missing stops, were also important. There was disrespect on the part of transport workers, e.g. being rude to passengers and jumping of queues at taxi ranks, and there were also robberies. Proposals for prevention included: training for workers on conflict resolution, and for employers on passenger-transport administration; and, promoting learning among passengers and workers on how to behave when traveling collectively. Regarding control and supervision, there were expressed needs for the recording of mileage, and for the sanctioning of workers who transgress queuing rules at taxi ranks. The police or supervisors should prevent drunken passengers from getting into vehicles, and drivers should refuse to go to dangerous, secluded

Catch of pelagic hauls in Mediterranean acoustic surveys: Is it the same between day and night?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Athanassios Machias

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Fish sampling is a critical aspect of acoustic surveys, because it is directly related to the “transformation” of echo into species biomass and subsequently affects the accuracy of acoustic estimates. In the present study, we investigated the differences between day and night sampling in a the catch composition through certain diversity indices and b the length frequency distribution of anchovy and sardine using catch data of pelagic hauls collected from four different regions of the European Mediterranean waters. In addition, the possible bias in trawl efficiency due to sampling time and the possible error introduced in acoustic estimates were investigated. No statistically significant differences were found between day and night in any of the parameters examined. The results showed that a more flexible strategy can be adopted to reduce the duration and the cost of acoustic sampling for small pelagic species. The advantages and disadvantages of the two sampling strategies are discussed.

Packaging, Transportation, and Disposal Logistics for Large Radioactively Contaminated Reactor Decommissioning Components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, Mark S.

2008-01-01

and disposal regulations and criteria or if special authorizations must be granted to transport and/or dispose. The U.S. DOT routinely issues special permits for large components where compliance with regulatory or acceptance criteria is impractical or impossible to meet. Transportation and disposal safety must be maintained even under special permits or authorizations. For example, if transported un-packaged, performance analysis must still be performed to assess the ability of the large component's outer steel shell to contain the internal radioactive contamination under normal transportation conditions and possibly incidence normal to transportation. The dimensions and weight of a large component must be considered when determining the possible modes of transportation (rail, water, or highway). At some locations, rail and/or barge access is unavailable. Many locations that once had an active rail spur to deliver new construction materials and components have let the spur deteriorate to the point that repair and upgrade of the spur is no longer economically feasible. Barge slips that have not been used since new plant construction require significant repair and/or dredging. Short on-site haul routes must be assessed for surface and subsurface conditions, as well as longer off-site routes. Off-site routes require clearance approvals from the regulatory authorities or, in the case of rail transport, the rail lines. Significant engineering planning and analysis must be performed during the pre-mobilization. In conclusion, the packaging, transportation, and disposal of large, oversized radioactively contaminated components removed during plant decommissioning is complex. However, over the last 15 years, a 100 or more components have been safely and compliantly packaged and transported for processing and/or disposal

Development of ergonomics audits for bagging, haul truck and maintenance and repair operations in mining.

Science.gov (United States)

Dempsey, Patrick G; Pollard, Jonisha; Porter, William L; Mayton, Alan; Heberger, John R; Gallagher, Sean; Reardon, Leanna; Drury, Colin G

2017-12-01

The development and testing of ergonomics and safety audits for small and bulk bag filling, haul truck and maintenance and repair operations in coal preparation and mineral processing plants found at surface mine sites is described. The content for the audits was derived from diverse sources of information on ergonomics and safety deficiencies including: analysis of injury, illness and fatality data and reports; task analysis; empirical laboratory studies of particular tasks; field studies and observations at mine sites; and maintenance records. These diverse sources of information were utilised to establish construct validity of the modular audits that were developed for use by mine safety personnel. User and interrater reliability testing was carried out prior to finalising the audits. The audits can be implemented using downloadable paper versions or with a free mobile NIOSH-developed Android application called ErgoMine. Practitioner Summary: The methodology used to develop ergonomics audits for three types of mining operations is described. Various sources of audit content are compared and contrasted to serve as a guide for developing ergonomics audits for other occupational contexts.

Norepinephrine transporter function and desipramine: residual drug effects versus short-term regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ordway, Gregory A; Jia, Weihong; Li, Jing; Zhu, Meng-Yang; Mandela, Prashant; Pan, Jun

2005-04-30

Previous research has shown that exposure of norepinephrine transporter (NET)-expressing cells to desipramine (DMI) downregulates the norepinephrine transporter, although changes in the several transporter parameters do not demonstrate the same time course. Exposures to desipramine for effects of residual desipramine on norepinephrine transporter binding and uptake were re-evaluated following exposures of PC12 cells to desipramine using different methods to remove residual drug. Using a method that minimizes residual drug, exposure of intact PC12 cells to desipramine for 4h had no effect on uptake capacity or [(3)H]nisoxetine binding to the norepinephrine transporter, while exposures for > or =16 h reduced uptake capacity. Desipramine-induced reductions in binding to the transporter required >24 h or greater periods of desipramine exposure. This study confirms that uptake capacity of the norepinephrine transporter is reduced earlier than changes in radioligand binding, but with a different time course than originally shown. Special pre-incubation procedures are required to abolish effects of residual transporter inhibitor when studying inhibitor-induced transporter regulation.

ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS OF GDOT’S SHORT LINE RAILROADS

Science.gov (United States)

2018-04-01

Short line railroads are critical to Georgias transportation infrastructure and support the efficient movement of goods into and out of the State. Twenty-nine short line railroads operate in Georgia, six of which operate either partially or totall...

Pathogen transport in groundwater systems: contrasts with traditional solute transport

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Randall J.; Johnson, William P.

2017-06-01

Water quality affects many aspects of water availability, from precluding use to societal perceptions of fit-for-purpose. Pathogen source and transport processes are drivers of water quality because they have been responsible for numerous outbreaks resulting in large economic losses due to illness and, in some cases, loss of life. Outbreaks result from very small exposure (e.g., less than 20 viruses) from very strong sources (e.g., trillions of viruses shed by a single infected individual). Thus, unlike solute contaminants, an acute exposure to a very small amount of contaminated water can cause immediate adverse health effects. Similarly, pathogens are larger than solutes. Thus, interactions with surfaces and settling become important even as processes important for solutes such as diffusion become less important. These differences are articulated in "Colloid Filtration Theory", a separate branch of pore-scale transport. Consequently, understanding pathogen processes requires changes in how groundwater systems are typically characterized, where the focus is on the leading edges of plumes and preferential flow paths, even if such features move only a very small fraction of the aquifer flow. Moreover, the relatively short survival times of pathogens in the subsurface require greater attention to very fast (solute transport mechanisms discussed here, a more encompassing view of water quality and source water protection is attained. With this more holistic view and theoretical understanding, better evaluations can be made regarding drinking water vulnerability and the relation between groundwater and human health.

Convective transport in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Ippolito, D.A.; Myra, J.R.; Russell, D.A.; Krasheninnikov, S.I.; Pigarov, A.Yu.; Yu, G.Q.; Xu, X.Q.; Nevins, W.M.

2005-01-01

Scrape-off-layer (SOL) convection in fusion experiments appears to be a universal phenomenon that can 'short-circuit' the divertor in some cases. The theory of 'blob' transport provides a simple and robust physical paradigm for studying convective transport. This paper summarizes recent advances in the theory of blob transport and its comparison with 2D and 3D computer simulations. We also discuss the common physical basis relating radial transport of blobs, pellets, and ELMs and a new blob regime that may lead to a connection between blob transport and the density limit. (author)

Avaliação do desempenho logístico do transporte rodoviário de madeira de áreas de fomento florestal com o uso de rede de Petri Evaluation of the wood hauling logistic performance in farm forest areas using Petri net

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Cardoso Machado

2009-12-01

of optimizing physical resources, guaranteeing a flow of uninterrupted provisioning and appropriate volume of wood entrance in the regional deposits. The operational cycle of wood transport is organized by the activities of wood loading in the field, wood hauling, wood unloading in the deposit and unhauling. The Temporal Petri Net was used, because it works with two times - sensitization duration. Simulations were carried out with the ARP and ARP software systems, in order to simulate, analyze and evaluate the operational performance. The variations employed in each scenery are due to the quality of the highway, under the current conditions, as for the vertical and horizontal geometry and the irregularity quotient, in each deposit, for the different types of vehicle and form of the adopted wood loading. In the areas of uneven topography, the improvement of the highways altering their quality level has a higher influence for the increase in the performance of the vehicles, and Toco and Truck presented better results. In the areas of plains, the choice of the vehicle has a higher influence in the increase of the performance of the transport, since the topography and the quality of the current highways already contribute to the performance. In these cases, the relation between transported ton and distance and time will be higher for the vehicles with higher capacity of liquid load.

Optical fibers with low nonlinearity and low polarization-mode dispersion for terabit communications

Science.gov (United States)

Baghdadi, J. A.; Safaai-Jazi, A.; Hattori, H. T.

2001-07-01

Refractive-index nonlinearities have negligible effect on the performance of short-haul fiber-optic communication links utilizing electronic repeaters. However, in long links, nonlinearities can cause severe signal degradations. To mitigate nonlinear effects, a new generation of fibers, referred to as large effective-area fibers, have been introduced in recent years. This paper reviews the latest research and development work on these fibers conducted by several research groups around the world. Attention is focused on a class of large effective-area fibers that are based on a depressed-core multiple-cladding design. Another important issue in long-haul and high capacity fiber optic systems is the polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) which has been recognized as a serious limiting factor. In this paper, an improved fiber design is proposed which, in addition to providing large effective-area and low bending loss, eliminates PMD due to elliptical deformation in the single-mode wavelength region. Furthermore, this design is allowed to provide a small chromatic dispersion about few ps/ nm km , in order to overcome four-wave mixing effects.

Neighbourhood Characteristics and Long-Term Air Pollution Levels Modify the Association between the Short-Term Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations and All-Cause Mortality in Paris.

Science.gov (United States)

Deguen, Séverine; Petit, Claire; Delbarre, Angélique; Kihal, Wahida; Padilla, Cindy; Benmarhnia, Tarik; Lapostolle, Annabelle; Chauvin, Pierre; Zmirou-Navier, Denis

2015-01-01

While a great number of papers have been published on the short-term effects of air pollution on mortality, few have tried to assess whether this association varies according to the neighbourhood socioeconomic level and long-term ambient air concentrations measured at the place of residence. We explored the effect modification of 1) socioeconomic status, 2) long-term NO2 ambient air concentrations, and 3) both combined, on the association between short-term exposure to NO2 and all-cause mortality in Paris (France). A time-stratified case-crossover analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of short-term NO2 variations on mortality, based on 79,107 deaths having occurred among subjects aged over 35 years, from 2004 to 2009, in the city of Paris. Simple and double interactions were statistically tested in order to analyse effect modification by neighbourhood characteristics on the association between mortality and short-term NO2 exposure. The data was estimated at the census block scale (n=866). The mean of the NO2 concentrations during the five days prior to deaths were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality: overall Excess Risk (ER) was 0.94% (95%CI=[0.08;1.80]. A higher risk was revealed for subjects living in the most deprived census blocks in comparison with higher socioeconomic level areas (ER=3.14% (95%CI=[1.41-4.90], ppollution episodes. There is also an indication that people living in these disadvantaged census blocks might experience even higher risk following short-term air pollution episodes, when they are also chronically exposed to higher NO2 levels.

The GREET Model Expansion for Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cai, Hao [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Burnham, Andrew [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wang, Michael [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Hang, Wen [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Vyas, Anant [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2015-05-01

Heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) account for a significant portion of the U.S. transportation sector’s fuel consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and air pollutant emissions. In our most recent efforts, we expanded the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREETTM) model to include life-cycle analysis of HDVs. In particular, the GREET expansion includes the fuel consumption, GHG emissions, and air pollutant emissions of a variety of conventional (i.e., diesel and/or gasoline) HDV types, including Class 8b combination long-haul freight trucks, Class 8b combination short-haul freight trucks, Class 8b dump trucks, Class 8a refuse trucks, Class 8a transit buses, Class 8a intercity buses, Class 6 school buses, Class 6 single-unit delivery trucks, Class 4 single-unit delivery trucks, and Class 2b heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans. These vehicle types were selected to represent the diversity in the U.S. HDV market, and specific weight classes and body types were chosen on the basis of their fuel consumption using the 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS) database. VIUS was also used to estimate the fuel consumption and payload carried for most of the HDV types. In addition, fuel economy projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, transit databases, and the literature were examined. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator was employed to generate tailpipe air pollutant emissions of diesel and gasoline HDV types.

Occurrence, bioaccumulation and long-range transport of short-chain chlorinated paraffins on the Fildes Peninsula at King George Island, Antarctica.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huijuan; Fu, Jianjie; Zhang, Aiqian; Zhang, Qinghua; Wang, Yawei

2016-09-01

As a candidate persistent organic pollutant of the Stockholm Convention, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have recently received particular attention. In this study, we investigated, for the first time, the concentrations of SCCPs in biota samples collected from the Fildes Peninsula at King George Island and Ardley Island, Antarctica. The concentrations of SCCPs ranged from 3.5 to 256.6ng/g (dry weight, dw), with a mean of 76.6±61.8ng/g dw, which was lower than those detected in mid- and low-latitude regions. The long-range transport behaviour of SCCPs was confirmed by both the detection of SCCPs in Antarctic remote areas and their special congener profiles. Short carbon chain (C10) congeners predominated in the Antarctic samples, which accounted for 56.1% of the total SCCP contamination. Such enrichment of C10 congeners indicated the high potential for the long-range transport of shorter chain congeners. In addition, SCCPs tended to be enriched in the species with high lipid contents. The biomagnification potential of SCCPs was found between Archeogastropoda (Agas) and Neogastropoda (Ngas), and the biomagnification factors of shorter chain congeners of SCCPs were higher than that of the longer chain ones. Considering that the endemic species in polar regions may be sensitive and vulnerable to the adverse effects of environmental contaminants, more attention should be paid on the bioaccumulation and toxicological risks of SCCPs in polar environments. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Simulation of Sediment Transport Caused by Landslide at Nanhua Reservoir Watershed in Southern Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ming-Hsi; Huang, Cong-Gi; Lin, Huan-Hsuan

2016-04-01

As a result of heavy rainfall, steep topography, young and weak geological formations, earthquakes, loose soils, slope land cultivation and other human disturbance, much area in Taiwan are prone to the occurrence of disastrous mass movements such as landslides and sediment disasters. During recent years, the extreme rainfall events brought huge amounts of rainfall and triggered severe changes in watershed environments. Typhoon Morakot in August 2009 caused severe landslides, debris flow, flooding and sediment disasters induced by record-break rainfall. The maximum rainfall of mountain area in Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County were over 2,900 mm. The study area is located at Nanhua reservoir watershed in southern Taiwan. The numerical model (HEC-RAS 4.1 and FLO-2D) will be used to simulate the sediment transport caused by landslide and the study will find out the separating location of erosion and deposition in the river, the danger area of riverbank, and the safety of the river terrace village under the return period of 50-year, 100-year and 200-year (such as Typhoon Morakot). The results of this study can provide for the disaster risk management of administrative decisions to lessen the impacts of natural hazards and may also be useful for time-space variation of sediment disasters caused by Climate Change.

Convective Transport of Very-short-lived Bromocarbons to the Stratosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Qing; Atlas, Elliot Leonard; Blake, Donald Ray; Dorf, Marcel; Pfeilsticker, Klaus August; Schauffler, Sue Myhre

2014-01-01

We use the NASA GEOS Chemistry Climate Model (GEOSCCM) to quantify the contribution of two most important brominated very short-lived substances (VSLS), bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2), to stratospheric bromine and its sensitivity to convection strength. Model simulations suggest that the most active transport of VSLS from the marine boundary layer through the tropopause occurs over the tropical Indian Ocean, the Western Pacific warm pool, and off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Together, convective lofting of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 and their degradation products supplies 8 ppt total bromine to the base of the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL, 150 hPa), similar to the amount of VSLS organic bromine available in the marine boundary layer (7.8-8.4 ppt) in the above active convective lofting regions. Of the total 8 ppt VSLS-originated bromine that enters the base of TTL at 150 hPa, half is in the form of source gas injection (SGI) and half as product gas injection (PGI). Only a small portion (Br2, together, contribute 7.7 pptv to the present-day inorganic bromine in the stratosphere. However, varying model deep convection strength between maximum and minimum convection conditions can introduce a 2.6 pptv uncertainty in the contribution of VSLS to inorganic bromine in the stratosphere (BryVSLS). Contrary to the conventional wisdom, minimum convection condition leads to a larger BryVSLS as the reduced scavenging in soluble product gases, thus a significant increase in PGI (2-3 ppt), greatly exceeds the relative minor decrease in SGI (a few 10ths ppt.

Possible effects of drift wave turbulence on magnetic structure and plasma transport in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callen, J.D.

1977-07-01

A new mechanism is proposed by which low level, drift wave type fluctuations, such as those observed in the ATC and TFR experiments, can cause anomalous radial electron heat transport in tokamaks. The model is based on the fact that since transport processes parallel to the magnetic field are many orders of magnitude more rapid than perpendicular ones, very small helically resonant magnetic perturbations that cause field lines to move radially allow the parallel transport process to contribute to radial electron heat transport. It is hypothesized that the small magnetic perturbations accompanying drift waves at any nonzero plasma β are large enough to produce significant effects in present tokamak experiments. The helical magnetic component of drift waves produces magnetic island structures whose spatial widths can easily exceed the ion gyroradius. In a drift wave oscillation period, electrons circumnavigate a magnetic island, whereas the slower moving ions see only a tilt of the magnetic field lines. Thus, electrons try to diffuse radially more rapidly than ions; however, a radialpotential builds up on a very short time scale to confine the electrons electrostatically and thereby keep the particle diffusion ambipolar. Nonetheless, this parallel electron diffusion process does cause net radial electron heat conduction through an ensemble of closely packed island structures. The heat conduction coefficient is estimated. Other effects that these magnetic flutters may have on plasma transport and runaway electron processes are also discussed

Neoclassical transport caused by collisionless scattering across an asymmetric separatrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubin, Daniel H E; Driscoll, C F; Tsidulko, Yu A

2010-10-29

Plasma loss due to apparatus asymmetries is a ubiquitous phenomenon in magnetic plasma confinement. When the plasma equilibrium has locally trapped particle populations partitioned by a separatrix from one another and from passing particles, the asymmetry transport is enhanced. The trapped and passing particle populations react differently to the asymmetries, leading to the standard 1/ν and sqrt[ν] transport regimes of superbanana orbit theory as particles collisionally scatter from one orbit type to another. However, when the separatrix is itself asymmetric, particles can collisionlessly transit from trapped to passing and back, leading to enhanced transport.

Oxidative stress in duckweed (Lemna minor L.) caused by short-term cadmium exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Razinger, Jaka [Department for Environmental Technologies and Biomonitoring, Institute of Physical Biology, Veliko Mlacevo 59, SI-1290 Grosuplje (Slovenia)], E-mail: jaka@ifb.si; Dermastia, Marina [National Institute of Biology, Vecna pot 111, p.p. 141, SI-1001 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology, University of Ljubljana, Vecna pot 111, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Koce, Jasna Dolenc [Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology, University of Ljubljana, Vecna pot 111, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Zrimec, Alexis [Department for Environmental Technologies and Biomonitoring, Institute of Physical Biology, Veliko Mlacevo 59, SI-1290 Grosuplje (Slovenia)

2008-06-15

The mechanisms of plant defence against cadmium toxicity have been studied by short-term exposure of Lemna minor L. (common duckweed) to concentrations of CdCl{sub 2} ranging from 0 to 500 {mu}M. High accumulation of cadmium was observed (12,320 {+-} 2155 {mu}g g{sup -1} at 500 {mu}M CdCl{sub 2}), which caused a gradual decrease of plant growth, increased lipid peroxidation, and weakened the entire antioxidative defence. Total glutathione concentration decreased significantly; however, the concentration of oxidized glutathione remained stable. The responses of four antioxidant enzymes showed that catalase was the most inhibited after CdCl{sub 2} exposure, ascorbate peroxidase and guaiacol peroxidase moderately, and glutathione reductase least. The total antioxidative potential revealed an induced antioxidative network at 0.1 {mu}M CdCl{sub 2} (137 {+-} 13.2% of the control) and its reduction to only 47.4 {+-} 4.0% of the control at higher cadmium concentrations. The possible application of the examined biomarkers in ecotoxicological research is discussed. - The increase of total antioxidative potential at low cadmium concentration is one of the mechanisms that helps duckweed to cope with cadmium-induced oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress in duckweed (Lemna minor L.) caused by short-term cadmium exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Razinger, Jaka; Dermastia, Marina; Koce, Jasna Dolenc; Zrimec, Alexis

2008-01-01

The mechanisms of plant defence against cadmium toxicity have been studied by short-term exposure of Lemna minor L. (common duckweed) to concentrations of CdCl 2 ranging from 0 to 500 μM. High accumulation of cadmium was observed (12,320 ± 2155 μg g -1 at 500 μM CdCl 2 ), which caused a gradual decrease of plant growth, increased lipid peroxidation, and weakened the entire antioxidative defence. Total glutathione concentration decreased significantly; however, the concentration of oxidized glutathione remained stable. The responses of four antioxidant enzymes showed that catalase was the most inhibited after CdCl 2 exposure, ascorbate peroxidase and guaiacol peroxidase moderately, and glutathione reductase least. The total antioxidative potential revealed an induced antioxidative network at 0.1 μM CdCl 2 (137 ± 13.2% of the control) and its reduction to only 47.4 ± 4.0% of the control at higher cadmium concentrations. The possible application of the examined biomarkers in ecotoxicological research is discussed. - The increase of total antioxidative potential at low cadmium concentration is one of the mechanisms that helps duckweed to cope with cadmium-induced oxidative stress

Activation analysis with neutron generators using short-lived radionuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salma, I.

1993-01-01

The short half-life involves a number of important differences in production, transportation and measurement of radionuclides, and in counting statistics as compared with those in traditional activation analysis. Experiments were performed to investigate the analytical possibilities and prospective utilization of short-lived radionuclides produced by 14-MeV neutron irradiation. A rapid pneumatic transfer system for use with neutron generators was installed and applied for detecting radionuclides with a half-life from 300 ms to 30 s. The transport time for samples with a total mass of 1-4 g is between 130 and 160 ms for pressurized air of 0.1-0.4 MPa. 11 elements were studied by the conventional activation method using both a typical pneumatic transport system (run time 3 s) and the fast pneumatic transport facility. The effect of the cyclic activation technique on the elemental sensitivities was also investigated. (orig.)

Impairment of brain endothelial glucose transporter by methamphetamine causes blood-brain barrier dysfunction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murrin L Charles

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Methamphetamine (METH, an addictive psycho-stimulant drug with euphoric effect is known to cause neurotoxicity due to oxidative stress, dopamine accumulation and glial cell activation. Here we hypothesized that METH-induced interference of glucose uptake and transport at the endothelium can disrupt the energy requirement of the blood-brain barrier (BBB function and integrity. We undertake this study because there is no report of METH effects on glucose uptake and transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB to date. Results In this study, we demonstrate that METH-induced disruption of glucose uptake by endothelium lead to BBB dysfunction. Our data indicate that a low concentration of METH (20 μM increased the expression of glucose transporter protein-1 (GLUT1 in primary human brain endothelial cell (hBEC, main component of BBB without affecting the glucose uptake. A high concentration of 200 μM of METH decreased both the glucose uptake and GLUT1 protein levels in hBEC culture. Transcription process appeared to regulate the changes in METH-induced GLUT1 expression. METH-induced decrease in GLUT1 protein level was associated with reduction in BBB tight junction protein occludin and zonula occludens-1. Functional assessment of the trans-endothelial electrical resistance of the cell monolayers and permeability of dye tracers in animal model validated the pharmacokinetics and molecular findings that inhibition of glucose uptake by GLUT1 inhibitor cytochalasin B (CB aggravated the METH-induced disruption of the BBB integrity. Application of acetyl-L-carnitine suppressed the effects of METH on glucose uptake and BBB function. Conclusion Our findings suggest that impairment of GLUT1 at the brain endothelium by METH may contribute to energy-associated disruption of tight junction assembly and loss of BBB integrity.

Data Envelopment Analysis of Helsinki-Tallinn Transportation Chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olli-Pekka Hilmola

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The Baltic Sea shipping is at a crossroads as sulphur regulation will lead to excessive cost increases from the year 2015 onwards and CO2 emission trading is planned to be implemented for the entire shipping sector within the EU area. Therefore, shipping is going to be minimized and hinterland transportation (road and rail will act as substitute. This research analyzes the situation on one of the highest volume general cargo transportation routes of Finland (operating between Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia, including loading and unloading at seaports and short sea shipping activity in between. Based on the efficiency evaluation results, it seems that containers should be favoured over semi-trailers – containers could be carried efficiently either in container ships or even at currently favoured RoRo or RoPax ships. Our research illustrates that pure container shipping with larger container ships within the analyzed route is not entirely out of question, but lead time and hinterland operations should receive more attention. Alternatively, RoRo and RoPax ships can also do something to increase their competitiveness in environmental harm caused and diesel consumption – higher cargo loads and utilization levels are short-term key for continued dominance.

Military Readiness: Air Transport Capability Falls Short of Requirements

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2000-01-01

..., For example, during fiscal years 1997 through 1999, on average only 55 percent of the C-5 fleet, the Air Force's largest cargo aircraft, was mission capable-significantly short of the 75 percent expected for wartime...

Aircraft Nodal Data Acquisition System (ANDAS), Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Development of an Aircraft Nodal Data Acquisition System (ANDAS) based upon the short haul Zigbee networking standard is proposed. It employs a very thin (135 um)...

Estimates of health risks associated with uranium hexafluoride transport by air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elert, M.; Skagius, K.

1990-01-01

In Sweden air transport is considered as an alternative for the shipment of uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ). The radiological consequences of an aeroplane accident involving UF 6 transport have been estimated and are presented as the dose from acute exposure and the dose from long-term exposure caused by ground contamination. Chemical effects of a UF 6 release are also discussed. A number of limiting scenarios have been defined, resulting in different mechanical and thermal impacts on the transport packages. The expected accident environment and the physical and chemical behaviour of the material have been used to derive a source term for the release to the air. A Gaussian dispersion model has been used to calculate the expected air concentration downwind from the accident site. The radiation dose from short-term exposure was found to be higher than the long-term exposure from uranium deposited on the ground. (author)

Treatable childhood neuronopathy caused by mutations in riboflavin transporter RFVT2

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, A. Reghan; Menezes, Manoj P.; Pandraud, Amelie; Gonzalez, Michael A.; Al-Odaib, Ahmad; Abrams, Alexander J.; Sugano, Kumiko; Yonezawa, Atsushi; Manzur, Adnan Y.; Burns, Joshua; Hughes, Imelda; McCullagh, B. Gary; Jungbluth, Heinz; Lim, Ming J.; Lin, Jean-Pierre; Megarbane, Andre; Urtizberea, J. Andoni; Shah, Ayaz H.; Antony, Jayne; Webster, Richard; Broomfield, Alexander; Ng, Joanne; Mathew, Ann A.; O’Byrne, James J.; Forman, Eva; Scoto, Mariacristina; Prasad, Manish; O’Brien, Katherine; Olpin, Simon; Oppenheim, Marcus; Hargreaves, Iain; Land, John M.; Wang, Min X.; Carpenter, Kevin; Horvath, Rita; Straub, Volker; Lek, Monkol; Gold, Wendy; Farrell, Michael O.; Brandner, Sebastian; Phadke, Rahul; Matsubara, Kazuo; McGarvey, Michael L.; Scherer, Steven S.; Baxter, Peter S.; King, Mary D.; Clayton, Peter; Rahman, Shamima; Reilly, Mary M.; Ouvrier, Robert A.; Christodoulou, John; Züchner, Stephan; Muntoni, Francesco

2014-01-01

Childhood onset motor neuron diseases or neuronopathies are a clinically heterogeneous group of disorders. A particularly severe subgroup first described in 1894, and subsequently called Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome, is characterized by progressive pontobulbar palsy, sensorineural hearing loss and respiratory insufficiency. There has been no treatment for this progressive neurodegenerative disorder, which leads to respiratory failure and usually death during childhood. We recently reported the identification of SLC52A2, encoding riboflavin transporter RFVT2, as a new causative gene for Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome. We used both exome and Sanger sequencing to identify SLC52A2 mutations in patients presenting with cranial neuropathies and sensorimotor neuropathy with or without respiratory insufficiency. We undertook clinical, neurophysiological and biochemical characterization of patients with mutations in SLC52A2, functionally analysed the most prevalent mutations and initiated a regimen of high-dose oral riboflavin. We identified 18 patients from 13 families with compound heterozygous or homozygous mutations in SLC52A2. Affected individuals share a core phenotype of rapidly progressive axonal sensorimotor neuropathy (manifesting with sensory ataxia, severe weakness of the upper limbs and axial muscles with distinctly preserved strength of the lower limbs), hearing loss, optic atrophy and respiratory insufficiency. We demonstrate that SLC52A2 mutations cause reduced riboflavin uptake and reduced riboflavin transporter protein expression, and we report the response to high-dose oral riboflavin therapy in patients with SLC52A2 mutations, including significant and sustained clinical and biochemical improvements in two patients and preliminary clinical response data in 13 patients with associated biochemical improvements in 10 patients. The clinical and biochemical responses of this SLC52A2-specific cohort suggest that riboflavin supplementation can

Imaging in short stature.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhary, Vikas; Bano, Shahina

2012-09-01

Short stature can be a sign of disease, disability, and social stigma causing psychological stress. It is important to have an early diagnosis and treatment. Short stature may result from skeletal dysplasias, endocrine disorders, may be familial, or may be the result of malnutrition and chronic illnesses. A team effort of the healthcare professionals like pediatricians, endocrinologists, radiologists, and pathologists is required to diagnose, treat and monitor various pathological conditions associated with growth abnormality. In this review, we have discussed the role of imaging in diagnosing and characterizing various pathological conditions associated with short stature.

The operational efficiency of waterway transport of forest chips on Finland's Lake Saimaa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karttunen, K.; Ranta, T. [Lappeenranta Univ. of Technology, LUT Savo Sustainable Technologies, Mikkeli (Finland); Vaatainen, K.; Asikainen, A. [The Finnish Forest Research Inst., Joensuu (Finland)], E-mail: kalle.karttunen@lut.fi

2012-11-01

New and cost-efficient methods for use in supply chains for energy wood should be found, to reach the targets of the renewable energy utilisation set by the European Union. The long-distance waterway transportation of forest fuels should be thoroughly investigated, especially in areas where the transport distance is long and waterways could provide a feasible method of conveying forest fuel. In comparison to transport of forest chips by truck, barge-based waterway transport shows a competitive advantage due to the larger loads and higher bulk density of chips it allows. The cost-efficiency of waterway transportation operations related to forest chips in Finland's Lake Saimaa region was studied using practical demonstrations and discrete-event simulation. The varying demand for fuel wood in three separate bio-power plants on the Saimaa lakeside (near the cities of Varkaus, Mikkeli, and Savonlinna) was addressed in several barge transportation scenarios. Finally, the economy of barge transportation was compared to the economy of truck transportation as a function of transportation distance and in terms of the annual performance of the transportation methods examined. The waterway supply chain of forest chips was cost-competitive to road transport by truck after 100-150 km. According to the simulation study, the most economical waterway transport options were based on fixed barge system and shift-independent harbor logistics where loading and unloading of barges were carried-out with a wheeled loader and a belt conveyor. Total supply chain costs including the best waterway logistics from road side storage to power plant ranged from 10.75 euros to 11.64 euros/MWh in distances of 100-150 km by waterways. The energy-density of forest chips in the barge load was found to be, on average, 25% higher than that in truck hauling, because of the better compaction of chips. Waterway transport is a viable option for long-distance transportation of forest chips in Eastern

ANALYISIS OF TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AND TRANSPORTATION POLICIES IN TURKEY

OpenAIRE

Ali Payıdar AKGÜNGÖR; Abdulmuttalip DEMİREL

2004-01-01

Transportation systems have to be considered and analysed as a whole while transportation demand, becoming as a natural outcome of socioeconomic and socio-cultural structure, is being evaluated. It is desired that transportation system, which will be selected for both passenger and freight transport, should be rapid, economic, safe, causing least harm to environment and appropriate for the conditions of a country. However, it is difficult for a transportation system to have all these properti...

LED-based high-speed visible light communications

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Nan; Shi, Meng; Zhao, Yiheng; Wang, Fumin; Shi, Jianyang; Zhou, Yingjun; Lu, Xingyu; Qiao, Liang

2018-01-01

We are seeing a growing use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in a range of applications including lighting, TV and backlight board screen, display etc. In comparison with the traditional incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs, LEDs offer long life-space, much higher energy efficiency, high performance cost ratio and above all very fast switching capability. LED based Visible Light Communications (VLC) is an emerging field of optical communications that focuses on the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can see. Depending on the transmission distance, we can divide the whole optical network into two categories, long haul and short haul. Visible light communication can be a promising candidate for short haul applications. In this paper, we outline the configuration of VLC, its unique benefits, and describe the state of the art research contributions consisting of advanced modulation formats including adaptive bit loading OFDM, carrierless amplitude and phase (CAP), pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) and single carrier Nyquist, linear equalization and nonlinear distortion mitigation based on machine learning, quasi-balanced coding and phase-shifted Manchester coding. These enabling technologies can support VLC up to 10Gb/s class free space transmission.

Etiology of short stature in children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sultan, M.; Afzal, M.; Ali, S.

2008-01-01

To determine the causes of short stature in children with special emphasis on growth hormone deficiency. Two hundred and fourteen children (140 boys and 74 girls), ranging from 02 to 15 years presenting with short stature were studied. Height and weight were plotted on appropriate growth charts and centiles determined. Relevant hematological and biochemical investigations including thyroid profile were done. Bone age was determined in all cases. Growth hormone axis was investigated after excluding other causes. Karyotyping was done in selected cases. Data was analyzed by SPSS 10.0 by descriptive statistics. Mean values were compared using t-test. In this study, the five most common etiological factors in order of frequency were Constitutional Growth Delay (CGD), Familial Short Stature (FSS), malnutrition, coeliac disease and Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD). In 37.4% of patients, the study revealed normal variants of growth - CGD, FSS or combination of both, 46.7% cases had nonendocrinological and 15.9% had endocrinological etiology. CGD (22.1%) in males and FSS (27%) in females were the most common etiology. GHD was found in 6.1% children and it comprised 38.2% of all endocrinological causes. Children with height falling below 0.4th centile were more likely to have a pathological short stature (79.2%) compared to 39.3% whose height was below 3rd centile but above 0.4th centile (p<0.05). CGD and FSS are most common causes of short stature in boys and girls respectively, whereas, GHD is a relatively uncommon etiology. (author)

Absence of Carbohydrate Response Element Binding Protein in Adipocytes Causes Systemic Insulin Resistance and Impairs Glucose Transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Archana Vijayakumar

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Lower adipose-ChREBP and de novo lipogenesis (DNL are associated with insulin resistance in humans. Here, we generated adipose-specific ChREBP knockout (AdChREBP KO mice with negligible sucrose-induced DNL in adipose tissue (AT. Chow-fed AdChREBP KO mice are insulin resistant with impaired insulin action in the liver, muscle, and AT and increased AT inflammation. HFD-fed AdChREBP KO mice are also more insulin resistant than controls. Surprisingly, adipocytes lacking ChREBP display a cell-autonomous reduction in insulin-stimulated glucose transport that is mediated by impaired Glut4 translocation and exocytosis, not lower Glut4 levels. AdChREBP KO mice have lower levels of palmitic acid esters of hydroxy stearic acids (PAHSAs in serum, and AT. 9-PAHSA supplementation completely rescues their insulin resistance and AT inflammation. 9-PAHSA also normalizes impaired glucose transport and Glut4 exocytosis in ChREBP KO adipocytes. Thus, loss of adipose-ChREBP is sufficient to cause insulin resistance, potentially by regulating AT glucose transport and flux through specific lipogenic pathways.

Myrmecochory and short-term seed fate in Rhamnus alaternus: Ant species and seed characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Bas, J. M.; Oliveras, J.; Gómez, C.

2009-05-01

Benefits conferred on plants in ant-mediated seed dispersal mutualisms (myrmecochory) depend on the fate of transported seeds. We studied the effects of elaiosome presence, seed size and seed treatment (with and without passage through a bird's digestive tract) on short-term seed fate in Rhamnus alaternus. In our study, we define short-term seed, or initial, seed fate, as the location where ants release the seeds after ant contact with it. The elaiosomes had the most influence on short-term fate, i.e. whether or not seeds were transported to the nest. The workers usually transported big seeds more often than small ones, but small ants did not transport large seeds. Effect of seed size on transport depended on the ant species and on the treatment of the seed (manual extraction simulating a direct fall from the parent plant vs. bird deposition corresponding to preliminary primary dispersal). Probability of removal of elaiosome-bearing seeds to the nest by Aphaenogaster senilis increased with increasing seed weight.

articles: The implementation of marginal external cost pricing in road transport Long run vs short run and first-best vs second-best

OpenAIRE

Erik T. Verhoef

2000-01-01

This article discusses a number of issues that will become increasingly important now that the concept of marginal external cost pricing becomes more likely to be implemented as a policy strategy in transport in reality. The first part of the article deals with the long-run efficiency of marginal external cost pricing. It is shown that such prices not only optimize short-run mobility, given the shape and position of the relevant demand and cost curves, but even more importantly, also optimall...

Impaired riboflavin transport due to missense mutations in SLC52A2 causes Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Haack, Tobias B; Makowski, Christine; Yao, Yoshiaki; Graf, Elisabeth; Hempel, Maja; Wieland, Thomas; Tauer, Ulrike; Ahting, Uwe; Mayr, Johannes A; Freisinger, Peter; Yoshimatsu, Hiroki; Inui, Ken; Strom, Tim M; Meitinger, Thomas; Yonezawa, Atsushi; Prokisch, Holger

2012-11-01

Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome (BVVLS [MIM 211530]) is a rare neurological disorder characterized by infancy onset sensorineural deafness and ponto-bulbar palsy. Mutations in SLC52A3 (formerly C20orf54), coding for riboflavin transporter 2 (hRFT2), have been identified as the molecular genetic correlate in several individuals with BVVLS. Exome sequencing of just one single case revealed that compound heterozygosity for two pathogenic mutations in the SLC52A2 gene coding for riboflavin transporter 3 (hRFT3), another member of the riboflavin transporter family, is also associated with BVVLS. Overexpression studies confirmed that the gene products of both mutant alleles have reduced riboflavin transport activities. While mutations in SLC52A3 cause decreased plasma riboflavin levels, concordant with a role of SLC52A3 in riboflavin uptake from food, the SLC52A2-mutant individual had normal plasma riboflavin concentrations, a finding in line with a postulated function of SLC52A2 in riboflavin uptake from blood into target cells. Our results contribute to the understanding of human riboflavin metabolism and underscore its role in the pathogenesis of BVVLS, thereby providing a rational basis for a high-dose riboflavin treatment.

Risk factors in equine transport-related health problems: A survey of the Australian equine industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Padalino, B; Raidal, S L; Hall, E; Knight, P; Celi, P; Jeffcott, L; Muscatello, G

2017-07-01

Transportation can affect equine health and is a potential source of economic loss to the industry. To identify journey (duration, vehicle, commercial or noncommercial) and horse (sex, age, breed, use, amateur or professional status) characteristics associated with the development of transport-related health problems in horses. Cross-sectional online survey. An online survey was conducted targeting amateur and professional participants in the Australian equine industry; eligible respondents were required to organise horse movements at least monthly. Respondents provided details of the last case of a transport-related health problem that had affected their horse(s). Associations between type of health problem, journey and horse characteristics were examined with multivariable multinomial regression analysis. Based on 214 responses, health problems were classified as injuries, muscular problems, heat stroke, gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, and death or euthanasia. Respiratory problems were reported most frequently (33.7%), followed by gastrointestinal problems (23.8%) and traumatic injuries (16.3%). The type of health problem was associated with journey duration (Pproblems, and death or euthanasia) were more likely to occur on long journeys. Using Standardbreds as the reference group, Thoroughbreds, Arabians and Warmbloods were more likely to experience a severe illness than an injury. Self-selected participation in the study and the self-reported nature of transport-related problems. Horses undertaking journeys of longer than 24 h are at greater risk for the development of severe disease or death. Further studies on long-haul transportation effects are required to safeguard the welfare of horses moved over long distances. © 2016 EVJ Ltd.

Intelligent Transport Systems in the Management of Road Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Kalupová, Blanka; Hlavoň, Ivan

2016-11-01

Extension of European Union causes increase of free transfer of people and goods. At the same time they raised the problems associated with the transport, e.g. congestion and related accidents on roads, air traffic delays and more. To increase the efficiency and safety of transport, the European Commission supports the introduction of intelligent transport systems and services in all transport sectors. Implementation of intelligent transport systems and services in the road transport reduces accident frequency, increases the capacity of existing infrastructure and reduces congestions. Use of toll systems provides resources needed for the construction and operation of a new road network, improves public transport, cycling transport and walking transport, and also their multimodal integration with individual car transport.

Hydrogen tube vehicle for supersonic transport: 2. Speed and energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, Arnold R. [Vehicle Projects Inc and Supersonic Tubevehicle LLC, 200 Violet St, Suite 100, Golden, CO 80401 (United States)

2010-06-15

The central concept of a new idea in high-speed transport is that operation of a vehicle in a hydrogen atmosphere, because of the low density of hydrogen, would increase sonic speed by a factor of 3.8 and decrease drag by 15 relative to air. A hydrogen atmosphere requires that the vehicle operate within a hydrogen-filled tube or pipeline, which serves as a phase separator. The supersonic tube vehicle (STV) can be supersonic with respect to air outside the tube while remaining subsonic inside. It breathes hydrogen fuel for its propulsion fuel cells from the tube itself. This paper, second in a series on the scientific foundations of the supersonic tube vehicle, tests the hypothesis that the STV will be simultaneously fast and energy efficient by comparing its predicted speed and energy consumption with that of four long-haul passenger transport modes: road, rail, maglev, and air. The study establishes the speed ranking STV >> airplane > maglev > train > coach (intercity bus) and the normalized energy consumption ranking Airplane >> coach > maglev > train > STV. Consistent with the hypothesis, the concept vehicle is both the fastest and lowest energy consuming mode. In theory, the vehicle can cruise at Mach 2.8 while consuming less than half the energy per passenger of a Boeing 747 at a cruise speed of Mach 0.81. (author)

Verification & Validation of High-Order Short-Characteristics-Based Deterministic Transport Methodology on Unstructured Grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azmy, Yousry; Wang, Yaqi

2013-01-01

The research team has developed a practical, high-order, discrete-ordinates, short characteristics neutron transport code for three-dimensional configurations represented on unstructured tetrahedral grids that can be used for realistic reactor physics applications at both the assembly and core levels. This project will perform a comprehensive verification and validation of this new computational tool against both a continuous-energy Monte Carlo simulation (e.g. MCNP) and experimentally measured data, an essential prerequisite for its deployment in reactor core modeling. Verification is divided into three phases. The team will first conduct spatial mesh and expansion order refinement studies to monitor convergence of the numerical solution to reference solutions. This is quantified by convergence rates that are based on integral error norms computed from the cell-by-cell difference between the code's numerical solution and its reference counterpart. The latter is either analytic or very fine- mesh numerical solutions from independent computational tools. For the second phase, the team will create a suite of code-independent benchmark configurations to enable testing the theoretical order of accuracy of any particular discretization of the discrete ordinates approximation of the transport equation. For each tested case (i.e. mesh and spatial approximation order), researchers will execute the code and compare the resulting numerical solution to the exact solution on a per cell basis to determine the distribution of the numerical error. The final activity comprises a comparison to continuous-energy Monte Carlo solutions for zero-power critical configuration measurements at Idaho National Laboratory's Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Results of this comparison will allow the investigators to distinguish between modeling errors and the above-listed discretization errors introduced by the deterministic method, and to separate the sources of uncertainty.

Assessment of Options for the Collection, Handling, and Transport of Corn Stover

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perlack, R.D.

2002-11-18

In this report, we discuss the logistics and estimate the delivered costs for collecting, handling, and hauling corn stover to an ethanol conversion facility. We compare costs for two conventional baling systems (large round bales and large rectangular bales), a silage-harvest system, and an unprocessed-pickup system. Our results generally indicate that stover can be collected, stored, and hauled for about $43.60 to $48.80/dry ton ($48.10-$53.80/dry Mg) using conventional baling equipment for conversion facilities ranging in size from 500 to 2000 dry tons/day (450-1810 dry Mg/day). These estimates are inclusive of all costs including farmer payments for the stover. Our results also suggest that costs might be significantly reduced with an unprocessed stover pickup system provided more efficient equipment is developed.

Imaging in short stature

OpenAIRE

Vikas Chaudhary; Shahina Bano

2012-01-01

Short stature can be a sign of disease, disability, and social stigma causing psychological stress. It is important to have an early diagnosis and treatment. Short stature may result from skeletal dysplasias, endocrine disorders, may be familial, or may be the result of malnutrition and chronic illnesses. A team effort of the healthcare professionals like pediatricians, endocrinologists, radiologists, and pathologists is required to diagnose, treat and monitor various pathological conditions ...

Imaging in short stature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vikas Chaudhary

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Short stature can be a sign of disease, disability, and social stigma causing psychological stress. It is important to have an early diagnosis and treatment. Short stature may result from skeletal dysplasias, endocrine disorders, may be familial, or may be the result of malnutrition and chronic illnesses. A team effort of the healthcare professionals like pediatricians, endocrinologists, radiologists, and pathologists is required to diagnose, treat and monitor various pathological conditions associated with growth abnormality. In this review, we have discussed the role of imaging in diagnosing and characterizing various pathological conditions associated with short stature.

Short circuit in deep brain stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Samura, Kazuhiro; Miyagi, Yasushi; Okamoto, Tsuyoshi; Hayami, Takehito; Kishimoto, Junji; Katano, Mitsuo; Kamikaseda, Kazufumi

2012-11-01

The authors undertook this study to investigate the incidence, cause, and clinical influence of short circuits in patients treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS). After the incidental identification of a short circuit during routine follow-up, the authors initiated a policy at their institution of routinely evaluating both therapeutic impedance and system impendence at every outpatient DBS follow-up visit, irrespective of the presence of symptoms suggesting possible system malfunction. This study represents a report of their findings after 1 year of this policy. Implanted DBS leads exhibiting short circuits were identified in 7 patients (8.9% of the patients seen for outpatient follow-up examinations during the 12-month study period). The mean duration from DBS lead implantation to the discovery of the short circuit was 64.7 months. The symptoms revealing short circuits included the wearing off of therapeutic effect, apraxia of eyelid opening, or dysarthria in 6 patients with Parkinson disease (PD), and dystonia deterioration in 1 patient with generalized dystonia. All DBS leads with short circuits had been anchored to the cranium using titanium miniplates. Altering electrode settings resulted in clinical improvement in the 2 PD cases in which patients had specific symptoms of short circuits (2.5%) but not in the other 4 cases. The patient with dystonia underwent repositioning and replacement of a lead because the previous lead was located too anteriorly, but did not experience symptom improvement. In contrast to the sudden loss of clinical efficacy of DBS caused by an open circuit, short circuits may arise due to a gradual decrease in impedance, causing the insidious development of neurological symptoms via limited or extended potential fields as well as shortened battery longevity. The incidence of short circuits in DBS may be higher than previously thought, especially in cases in which DBS leads are anchored with miniplates. The circuit impedance of DBS

Transport and deposition of nano-particles. Application to the free action of short-lived radon daughters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malet, J.

1997-01-01

Short-lived radon daughters ( 218 Po, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, and 214 Po) are important contributors to the natural average annual individual dose. The models describing the evolution of these aerosol in a house depend critically on a parameter, the 218 Po deposition velocity, which, although aerosol deposition has been extensively studied, is poorly known. A numerical and experimental study is thus carried out for a simple case: deposition in a cylindrical tube under laminar flow condition. The numerical results help understanding the difference between the transport and deposition of these radionuclides and those of non radioactive aerosols. Comparison of these well environment does not give satisfactory correlation, requiring the study of phenomena that may affect deposition. The first of these is the possible variation in the e 218 Po diffusion coefficient. Furthermore, experiments coupled with numerical calculations show that this variation could be due to 218 Po neutralization. The second phenomenon concerns the effect of the surface type, which is also shown experimentally. By modelling the neutralization and using results with a piratically smooth surface, good numerical/experimental correlations are obtained. Understanding this simple case than makes possible studying a more complex case: deposition in controlled turbulent flow. Two theories are thus experimentally validated. In addition, a 218 Po deposition velocity representative of our experimental conditions is determined. Finally, we report a feasibility study of radon daughters transport and deposition in a ventilated chamber taking into account all the involved phenomena. (author)

Short-term calorie restriction feminizes the mRNA profiles of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters in livers of mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Zidong Donna; Klaassen, Curtis D

2014-01-01

Calorie restriction (CR) is one of the most effective anti-aging interventions in mammals. A modern theory suggests that aging results from a decline in detoxification capabilities and thus accumulation of damaged macromolecules. The present study aimed to determine how short-term CR alters mRNA profiles of genes that encode metabolism and detoxification machinery in the liver. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed CR (0, 15, 30, or 40%) diets for one month, followed by mRNA quantification of 98 xenobiotic processing genes (XPGs) in the liver, including 7 uptake transporters, 39 phase-I enzymes, 37 phase-II enzymes, 10 efflux transporters, and 5 transcription factors. In general, 15% CR did not alter mRNAs of most XPGs, whereas 30 and 40% CR altered over half of the XPGs (32 increased and 29 decreased). CR up-regulated some phase-I enzymes (fold increase), such as Cyp4a14 (12), Por (2.3), Nqo1 (1.4), Fmo2 (5.4), and Fmo3 (346), and numerous number of phase-II enzymes, such as Sult1a1 (1.2), Sult1d1 (2.0), Sult1e1 (33), Sult3a1 (2.2), Gsta4 (1.3), Gstm2 (1.3), Gstm3 (1.7), and Mgst3 (2.2). CR feminized the mRNA profiles of 32 XPGs in livers of male mice. For instance, CR decreased the male-predominantly expressed Oatp1a1 (97%) and increased the female-predominantly expressed Oatp1a4 (11). In conclusion, short-term CR alters the mRNA levels of over half of the 98 XPGs quantified in livers of male mice, and over half of these alterations appear to be due to feminization of the liver. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Numerical modelling of solid transport caused by an extreme flood: Case of the Hamiz dam failure (Algeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haddad Ali

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Study of solid transport caused by the flow of an extreme flood such as the propagation of dam failure wave aims to simulate the hydrodynamics behaviour of the solid particles contained in the valley during the flood passage. With this intention, we have developed a numerical model which is based on the resolution of the one-dimensional Saint Venant–Exner equations by the implicit finite difference scheme. Numerical stability of liquid phase calculation is checked by the Courant number and De Vries condition for the solid phase. The model has been applied to the Hamiz dam (Algeria which is built in the semi arid zone and presents a major risk of failure. The simulation of several scenarios of dam failure has allowed us to trace the cartography of sediment transport in the valley which is induced by the flood of dam failure.

Short circuit detection in the winding and operation of superconducting magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walstrom, P.L.

1982-01-01

Three categories of shorts will be discussed: (1) shorts to the metallic bobbin or other structural elements, (2) shorts between turns caused by instrumentation wires that are deliberately connected to a turn at the end (e.g., voltage taps) and that short out to another turn but are not completely severed in the process, and (3) short circuits between turns caused by direct contact due to insulation failure by chips of metal bridging turns and by instrumentation wires that bridge turns but are severed in the process of shorting

Air Cargo Transportation Route Choice Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Obashi, Hiroshi; Kim, Tae-Seung; Oum, Tae Hoon

2003-01-01

Using a unique feature of air cargo transshipment data in the Northeast Asian region, this paper identifies the critical factors that determine the transshipment route choice. Taking advantage of the variations in the transport characteristics in each origin-destination airports pair, the paper uses a discrete choice model to describe the transshipping route choice decision made by an agent (i.e., freight forwarder, consolidator, and large shipper). The analysis incorporates two major factors, monetary cost (such as line-haul cost and landing fee) and time cost (i.e., aircraft turnaround time, including loading and unloading time, custom clearance time, and expected scheduled delay), along with other controls. The estimation method considers the presence of unobserved attributes, and corrects for resulting endogeneity by use of appropriate instrumental variables. Estimation results find that transshipment volumes are more sensitive to time cost, and that the reduction in aircraft turnaround time by 1 hour would be worth the increase in airport charges by more than $1000. Simulation exercises measures the impacts of alternative policy scenarios for a Korean airport, which has recently declared their intention to be a future regional hub in the Northeast Asian region. The results suggest that reducing aircraft turnaround time at the airport be an effective strategy, rather than subsidizing to reduce airport charges.

Development of a scanning tunneling potentiometry system for measurement of electronic transport at short length scales

Science.gov (United States)

Rozler, Michael

It is clear that complete understanding of macroscopic properties of materials is impossible without a thorough knowledge of behavior at the smallest length scales. While the past 25 years have witnessed major advances in a variety of techniques that probe the nanoscale properties of matter, electrical transport measurements -- the heart of condensed matter research -- have lagged behind, never progressing beyond bulk measurements. This thesis describes a scanning tunneling potentiometry (STP) system developed to simultaneously map the transport-related electrochemical potential distribution of a biased sample along with its surface topography, extending electronic transport measurements to the nanoscale. Combining a novel sample biasing technique with a continuous current-nulling feedback scheme pushes the noise performance of the measurement to its fundamental limit - the Johnson noise of the STM tunnel junction. The resulting 130 nV voltage sensitivity allows us to spatially resolve local potentials at scales down to 2 nm, while maintaining atomic scale STM imaging, all at scan sizes of up to 15 microns. A mm-range two-dimensional coarse positioning stage and the ability to operate from liquid helium to room temperature with a fast turn-around time greatly expand the versatility of the instrument. Use of carefully selected model materials, combined with excellent topographic and voltage resolution has allowed us to distinguish measurement artifacts caused by surface roughness from true potentiometric features, a major problem in previous STP measurements. The measurements demonstrate that STP can produce physically meaningful results for homogeneous transport as well as non-uniform conduction dominated by material microstructures. Measurements of several physically interesting materials systems are presented as well, revealing new behaviors at the smallest length sales. The results establish scanning tunneling potentiometry as a useful tool for physics and

Flavonoids modify root growth and modulate expression of SHORT-ROOT and HD-ZIP III.

Science.gov (United States)

Franco, Danilo Miralha; Silva, Eder Marques; Saldanha, Luiz Leonardo; Adachi, Sérgio Akira; Schley, Thayssa Rabelo; Rodrigues, Tatiane Maria; Dokkedal, Anne Ligia; Nogueira, Fabio Tebaldi Silveira; Rolim de Almeida, Luiz Fernando

2015-09-01

Flavonoids are a class of distinct compounds produced by plant secondary metabolism that inhibit or promote plant development and have a relationship with auxin transport. We showed that, in terms of root development, Copaifera langsdorffii leaf extracts has an inhibitory effect on most flavonoid components compared with the application of exogenous flavonoids (glycosides and aglycones). These compounds alter the pattern of expression of the SHORT-ROOT and HD-ZIP III transcription factor gene family and cause morpho-physiological alterations in sorghum roots. In addition, to examine the flavonoid auxin interaction in stress, we correlated the responses with the effects of exogenous application of auxin and an auxin transport inhibitor. The results show that exogenous flavonoids inhibit primary root growth and increase the development of lateral roots. Exogenous flavonoids also change the pattern of expression of specific genes associated with root tissue differentiation. These findings indicate that flavonoid glycosides can influence the polar transport of auxin, leading to stress responses that depend on auxin. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Electron dynamics inside short-coherence systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrari, Giulio; Bordone, Paolo; Jacoboni, Carlo

2006-01-01

We present theoretical results on electron dynamics inside nanometric systems, where the coherence of the electron ensemble is maintained in a very short region. The contacts are supposed to spoil such a coherence, therefore the interference processes between the carrier wavefunction and the internal potential profile can be affected by the proximity of the contacts. The problem has been analysed by using the Wigner-function formalism. For very short devices, transport properties, such as tunnelling through potential barriers, are significantly influenced by the distance between the contacts

Short-term oleoyl-estrone treatment affects capacity to manage lipids in rat adipose tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Salas, Anna; Noé, Véronique; Ciudad, Carlos J; Romero, M Mar; Remesar, Xavier; Esteve, Montserrat

2007-08-28

Short-term OE (oleoyl-estrone) treatment causes significant decreases in rat weight mainly due to adipose tissue loss. The aim of this work was to determine if OE treatment affects the expression of genes that regulate lipid metabolism in white adipose tissue. Gene expression in adipose tissue from female treated rats (48 hours) was analysed by hybridization to cDNA arrays and levels of specific mRNAs were determined by real-time PCR. Treatment with OE decreased the expression of 232 genes and up-regulated 75 other genes in mesenteric white adipose tissue. The use of real-time PCR validate that, in mesenteric white adipose tissue, mRNA levels for Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) were decreased by 52%, those of Fatty Acid Synthase (FAS) by 95%, those of Hormone Sensible Lipase (HSL) by 32%, those of Acetyl CoA Carboxylase (ACC) by 92%, those of Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1b (CPT1b) by 45%, and those of Fatty Acid Transport Protein 1 (FATP1) and Adipocyte Fatty Acid Binding Protein (FABP4) by 52% and 49%, respectively. Conversely, Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNFalpha) values showed overexpression (198%). Short-term treatment with OE affects adipose tissue capacity to extract fatty acids from lipoproteins and to deal with fatty acid transport and metabolism.

STUDY OF CLINICAL PROFILE OF PATIENTS WITH SHORT STATURE VISITING A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arun Kumar Choudhury

2016-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Short stature is one of the common causes of referral of children to endocrine unit. It may result due to various causes and elucidating the exact cause is necessary to formulate the right therapy. OBJECTIVE To study the various aetiologies and clinical presentation of patients presenting with short to a tertiary care hospital. DESIGN Cross sectional study MATERIAL AND METHODS We collected and analysed the clinical, biochemical, radiological and hormonal data of 104 consecutive patients who presented to our department from January 2015 to March 2016 for evaluation of short stature. RESULTS Majority of the subjects studied belonged to 10-15 years group (44.23% followed by 5-10 years age group (31.73%. The most common cause in our population was due to familial short stature (29.80%. The next common causes included chronic medical illness (23.08% followed by hypothyroidism (13.46%. Majority of patients presenting for evaluation of short stature were males (60.58%. CONCLUSIONS Short stature is caused due to a multitude of causes. In our population, familial short stature was the most common aetiology

Examining the Causes and Consequences of Short-Term Behavioral Change during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, South Africa.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas J Conard

Full Text Available Sibudu in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa with its rich and high-resolution archaeological sequence provides an ideal case study to examine the causes and consequences of short-term variation in the behavior of modern humans during the Middle Stone Age (MSA. We present the results from a technological analysis of 11 stratified lithic assemblages which overlie the Howiesons Poort deposits and all date to ~58 ka. Based on technological and typological attributes, we conducted inter-assemblage comparisons to characterize the nature and tempo of cultural change in successive occupations. This work identified considerable short-term variation with clear temporal trends throughout the sequence, demonstrating that knappers at Sibudu varied their technology over short time spans. The lithic assemblages can be grouped into three cohesive units which differ from each other in the procurement of raw materials, the frequency in the methods of core reduction, the kind of blanks produced, and in the nature of tools the inhabitants of Sibudu made and used. These groups of assemblages represent different strategies of lithic technology, which build upon each other in a gradual, cumulative manner. We also identify a clear pattern of development toward what we have previously defined as the Sibudan cultural taxonomic unit. Contextualizing these results on larger geographical scales shows that the later phase of the MSA during MIS 3 in KwaZulu-Natal and southern Africa is one of dynamic cultural change rather than of stasis or stagnation as has at times been claimed. In combination with environmental, subsistence and contextual information, our high-resolution data on lithic technology suggest that short-term behavioral variability at Sibudu can be best explained by changes in technological organization and socio-economic dynamics instead of environmental forcing.

Examining the Causes and Consequences of Short-Term Behavioral Change during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Conard, Nicholas J; Will, Manuel

2015-01-01

Sibudu in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) with its rich and high-resolution archaeological sequence provides an ideal case study to examine the causes and consequences of short-term variation in the behavior of modern humans during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). We present the results from a technological analysis of 11 stratified lithic assemblages which overlie the Howiesons Poort deposits and all date to ~58 ka. Based on technological and typological attributes, we conducted inter-assemblage comparisons to characterize the nature and tempo of cultural change in successive occupations. This work identified considerable short-term variation with clear temporal trends throughout the sequence, demonstrating that knappers at Sibudu varied their technology over short time spans. The lithic assemblages can be grouped into three cohesive units which differ from each other in the procurement of raw materials, the frequency in the methods of core reduction, the kind of blanks produced, and in the nature of tools the inhabitants of Sibudu made and used. These groups of assemblages represent different strategies of lithic technology, which build upon each other in a gradual, cumulative manner. We also identify a clear pattern of development toward what we have previously defined as the Sibudan cultural taxonomic unit. Contextualizing these results on larger geographical scales shows that the later phase of the MSA during MIS 3 in KwaZulu-Natal and southern Africa is one of dynamic cultural change rather than of stasis or stagnation as has at times been claimed. In combination with environmental, subsistence and contextual information, our high-resolution data on lithic technology suggest that short-term behavioral variability at Sibudu can be best explained by changes in technological organization and socio-economic dynamics instead of environmental forcing.

The interactive effects of transportation and lairage time on welfare indicators, carcass and meat quality traits in slaughter pigs

Science.gov (United States)

Čobanović, N.; Vasilev, D.; Dimitrijević, M.; Teodorović, V.; Parunović, N.; Betić, N.; Karabasil, N.

2017-09-01

This study assessed the effects of transportation and lairage time and their interaction on welfare, carcass and meat quality traits in slaughter pigs under commercial conditions. The study was conducted on 120 pigs with a live weight of approximately 115 kg and about six months old. A complete blood picture was measured in pigs to assess pre-slaughter stress. Also, nine different carcass quality parameters including live weight, hot and cold carcass weights, cooling loss, dressing percentage, backfat thickness, meatiness and skin lesions score were measured. The pH and temperature measurements were performed 45 minutes post-mortem. The results showed that short transportation time and slaughtering without lairaging and long transportation time and overnight lairaging negatively influenced the hematological parameters, which meant that the animal welfare was seriously compromised under these pre-slaughter conditions. Long transportation time and overnight lairaging reduced live and carcass weights and increased the incidence of skin lesions on the carcass and DFD pork. In addition, short transportation time and slaughtering without lairaging caused a significant deterioration in pork quality. It can be concluded that, from the standpoint of animal welfare, carcass and meat quality, the above-mentioned pre-slaughter conditions are not recommended to the farmers and/or pork producers.

Neighbourhood Characteristics and Long-Term Air Pollution Levels Modify the Association between the Short-Term Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations and All-Cause Mortality in Paris.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Séverine Deguen

Full Text Available While a great number of papers have been published on the short-term effects of air pollution on mortality, few have tried to assess whether this association varies according to the neighbourhood socioeconomic level and long-term ambient air concentrations measured at the place of residence. We explored the effect modification of 1 socioeconomic status, 2 long-term NO2 ambient air concentrations, and 3 both combined, on the association between short-term exposure to NO2 and all-cause mortality in Paris (France.A time-stratified case-crossover analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of short-term NO2 variations on mortality, based on 79,107 deaths having occurred among subjects aged over 35 years, from 2004 to 2009, in the city of Paris. Simple and double interactions were statistically tested in order to analyse effect modification by neighbourhood characteristics on the association between mortality and short-term NO2 exposure. The data was estimated at the census block scale (n=866.The mean of the NO2 concentrations during the five days prior to deaths were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality: overall Excess Risk (ER was 0.94% (95%CI=[0.08;1.80]. A higher risk was revealed for subjects living in the most deprived census blocks in comparison with higher socioeconomic level areas (ER=3.14% (95%CI=[1.41-4.90], p<0.001. Among these deprived census blocks, excess risk was even higher where long-term average NO2 concentrations were above 55.8 μg/m3 (the top tercile of distribution: ER=4.84% (95%CI=[1.56;8.24], p for interaction=0.02.Our results show that people living in census blocks characterized by low socioeconomic status are more vulnerable to air pollution episodes. There is also an indication that people living in these disadvantaged census blocks might experience even higher risk following short-term air pollution episodes, when they are also chronically exposed to higher NO2 levels.

IMPACT OF ROAD TRANSPORT ON AGRICULTURAL ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Osondu

2012-03-09

Mar 9, 2012 ... major means of transporting agricultural produce from the farms to the markets as well as to ... methods were both employed to analyze the data gathered. ... Keywords: Rural Development, Marketing, Transportation, Agricultural Production & Road. Network ... traffic over short, medium and long distances.

Flexible production and logistics of wood chips; Joustava hakkeen valmistus ja logistiikka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haemaelaeinen, M; Pankakari, P [Metsaeenergia Meter Ky, Louhi (Finland)

1997-12-31

The target of the project was to develop a multi-purpose chipper-lorry (MOHA), which could be used both as chipping and transportation unit. MOHA is capable of chipping trees directly from the lot, so the size of the storage plays no role. Even though the MOHA-unit can be used as an individual transportation unit, it can also be used for feeding any further dispatch unit equipped with interchangeable container system e.g. when the transportation distances are long and the ordered volumes of wood chips are large. Previous projects concerning chipping-logistics are based on various intermediate storage models, but the MOHA delivers the chips strait from the lot to the site of utilization. The raw material short-distance haulage is reduced from previous 150 - 250 m to 1 - 50 m. In this new delivery model chips are bunkered only at largest heating plants. At smaller heating plants no bunker storages are needed. MOHA collects self the load, delivers it, brings, if controlled properly, back-haul, and delivers it to another site of utilization

Flexible production and logistics of wood chips; Joustava hakkeen valmistus ja logistiikka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haemaelaeinen, M.; Pankakari, P. [Metsaeenergia Meter Ky, Louhi (Finland)

1996-12-31

The target of the project was to develop a multi-purpose chipper-lorry (MOHA), which could be used both as chipping and transportation unit. MOHA is capable of chipping trees directly from the lot, so the size of the storage plays no role. Even though the MOHA-unit can be used as an individual transportation unit, it can also be used for feeding any further dispatch unit equipped with interchangeable container system e.g. when the transportation distances are long and the ordered volumes of wood chips are large. Previous projects concerning chipping-logistics are based on various intermediate storage models, but the MOHA delivers the chips strait from the lot to the site of utilization. The raw material short-distance haulage is reduced from previous 150 - 250 m to 1 - 50 m. In this new delivery model chips are bunkered only at largest heating plants. At smaller heating plants no bunker storages are needed. MOHA collects self the load, delivers it, brings, if controlled properly, back-haul, and delivers it to another site of utilization

Railway transport and terminal transhipment of Short Rotation Willow Crops. Pre-study; Taagtransport och terminal-hantering av Salix. Foerstudie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forsberg, Maya

2009-07-01

The overall aim of this pre-study is to contribute to an increased co-handling of biomass from forest and field at terminal and railway transport, in order to find effective transport solutions with regard to costs and environment. The aim of the pre-study is also to get an overall picture of transport of biomass on railway. The objective is to draw conclusions of use for interested parties within the agricultural sector, on what possibilities there are to handle biomass from forestry and agriculture with the same logistical infrastructure. Conclusions are drawn especially with regard to Short Rotation Willow Crops (here Salix) handled as chips or bundles, but also briefly for other energy crops suitable for combustion. Furthermore, the study draws conclusions on how to design effective terminals and related costs. The pre-study is intended as a planning material for a more in-depth study of a mobile terminal solution, with active participation from interested players in the agricultural sector. When considering railway transport and terminal transhipment of large volumes of biomass, there is a clear economical benefit in designing large terminals and making investments in effective handling equipment, in order to get a high use of equipment and a high storage turnover. A more simple and temporary terminal solution may be suitable for smaller flows of biomass, such as agricultural fuels, which need to be collected in different areas according to availability. An intermodal solution, i.e. which involves the transportation of freight in the same type of carrier (a container for example) when changing modes of transportation, is suitable for this purpose. The solution should also build on standardised equipment, involve low terminal investments and flexible and temporary transhipment in different areas near the location of the biomass. For railway transport, the same handling equipment may be used for wood chips and Salix chips, i.e. standardised container systems

27 CFR 478.28 - Transportation of destructive devices and certain firearms.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... or foreign commerce any destructive device, machine gun, short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled... and applicable State and local law. A person who desires to transport in interstate or foreign...) Evidence that the transportation or possession of such device or weapon is not inconsistent with the laws...

A multi-model intercomparison of halogenated very short-lived substances (TransCom-VSLS): linking oceanic emissions and tropospheric transport for a reconciled estimate of the stratospheric source gas injection of bromine

OpenAIRE

Hossaini, R.; Patra, P. K.; Leeson, A. A.; Krysztofiak, G.; Abraham, N. L.; Andrews, S. J.; Archibald, A. T.; Aschmann, J.; Atlas, E. L.; Belikov, D. A.; Bonisch, H.; Carpenter, L. J.; Dhomse, S.; Dorf, M.; Engel, A.

2016-01-01

The first concerted multi-model intercomparison of halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLS) has been performed, within the framework of the ongoing Atmospheric Tracer Transport Model Intercomparison Project (TransCom). Eleven global models or model variants participated (nine chemical transport models and two chemistry–climate models) by simulating the major natural bromine VSLS, bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2), over a 20-year period (1993–2012). Except f...

Charge transport in organic semiconductors.

Science.gov (United States)

Bässler, Heinz; Köhler, Anna

2012-01-01

Modern optoelectronic devices, such as light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors and organic solar cells require well controlled motion of charges for their efficient operation. The understanding of the processes that determine charge transport is therefore of paramount importance for designing materials with improved structure-property relationships. Before discussing different regimes of charge transport in organic semiconductors, we present a brief introduction into the conceptual framework in which we interpret the relevant photophysical processes. That is, we compare a molecular picture of electronic excitations against the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger semiconductor band model. After a brief description of experimental techniques needed to measure charge mobilities, we then elaborate on the parameters controlling charge transport in technologically relevant materials. Thus, we consider the influences of electronic coupling between molecular units, disorder, polaronic effects and space charge. A particular focus is given to the recent progress made in understanding charge transport on short time scales and short length scales. The mechanism for charge injection is briefly addressed towards the end of this chapter.

IN-SITU RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT NEAR THE NOPAL I URANIUM DEPOSIT AT PENA BLANCA, MEXICO: CONSTRAINTS FROM SHORT-LIVED DECAY-SERIES RADIONUCLIDES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, S.; Ku, T.L.; Todd, V.; Murrell, M.; Pineda, J. Alfredo Rodriguez; Dinsmoor, J.; Mitchell, A.

2005-01-01

For nuclear waste management, an important mechanism by which radioactive waste components are isolated from returning to the human environment, the biosphere, is by the geological barrier in which the effectiveness of the barrier is characterized by in-situ retardation factor, i.e., the transport rate of a radionuclide relative to that of groundwater. As part of natural analog studies of the Yucca Mountain Project of the U. S. Department of Energy, we propose such characterization by using naturally-occurring decay-series radioisotopes as an analog. We collected large-volume (>1000 liters) groundwater samples from three wells (PB, Pozos, and PB4, respectively) near the Nopal I Uranium Ore site at Pena Blanca, Mexico, by using an in-situ Mn-cartridge filtration technique for analysis of short-lived decay-series radionuclides. Results show that the activities of short-lived radioisotopes ( 228 Ra, 224 Ra and 223 Ra) and activity ratios of 224 Ra/ 228 Ra and 224 Ra/ 223 Ra are higher at PB and Pozos than at PB4. In contrast, the 210 Po activity is much lower at PB and Pozos than at PB4. The high Ra activities and activities ratios at PB and Pozos are attributable to the high alpha-recoil input from the aquifer rocks, while the high 210 Po activity at PB4 is due to the enhanced colloidal transport. Based on a uranium-series transport model, we estimate that the in-situ retardation factor of Ra is (0.43 ± 0.02) x 10 3 at PB, (1.68 ± 0.08) x 10 3 at Pozos, and (1.19 ± 0.08) x 10 3 at PB4 and that the mean fracture width in the aquifer rocks is about 0.23 (micro)m at PB, 0.37 (micro)m at Posos, and 4.0 (micro)m at PB4, respectively. The large fracture width at PB4 as derived from the model provides an additional evidence to the inference from the Po measurements that particle-reactive radionuclides are transported mainly as colloidal forms through the large fractures in rocks. Our model also suggests that in addition to alpha recoil, decay of 226 Ra from the adsorbed

Functional characterization of dopamine transporter in vivo using Drosophila melanogaster behavioral analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taro eUeno

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Dopamine mediates diverse functions such as motivation, reward, attention, learning/memory and sleep/arousal. Recent studies using model organisms including the fruit fly, have elucidated various physiological functions of dopamine, and identified specific neural circuits for these functions. Flies with mutations in the Drosophila dopamine transporter (dDAT gene show enhanced dopamine signaling, and short sleep and memory impairment phenotypes. However, understanding the mechanism by which dopamine signaling causes these phenotypes requires an understanding of the dynamics of dopamine release. Here we report the effects of dDAT expression on behavioral traits. We show that dDAT expression in a subset of dopaminergic neurons is sufficient for normal sleep. dDAT expression in other cell types such as Kenyon cells and glial cells can also rescue the short sleep phenotype of dDAT mutants. dDAT mutants also show a down-regulation of the D1-like dopamine receptor dDA1, and this phenotype is rescued when dDAT is expressed in the same cell types in which it rescues sleep. On the other hand, dDAT overexpression in mushroom bodies, which are the target of memory forming dopamine neurons, abolishes olfactory aversive memory. Our data demonstrate that expression of extrasynaptic dopamine transporters can rescue some aspects of dopamine signaling in dopamine transporter mutants. These results provide novel insights into regulatory systems that modulate dopamine signaling.

Modelling mode choice in short trips - shifting from car to bicycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halldórsdóttir, Katrín; Christensen, Linda; Jensen, Thomas Christian

2011-01-01

-economic variables of a representative sample of the population. The investigated sample includes 11,072 observations. The model considers five alternatives (i.e., car driver, car passenger, public transport, walk and obviously bike), for which level of service variables are calculated through assignment procedures...... relevance of the cost for short trips. Expectedly, the selection of bicycle as mode for short trips is positively related to owning a bicycle and negatively linked to owning one or more cars. Urban density has also positive correlation with the selection of sustainable transport modes....

Future Trends in Business Travel Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Keith J.

2002-01-01

This research surveys twenty large companies and their travellers to identify and evaluate the effects of pressures on the business travel market in the future. The influence of the following areas on the decision making process are addressed: (1) Corporate travel policies and increasing professionalism in corporate purchasing; (2) The development of global strategic airline alliances; (3) The emergence of low cost airlines on short haul markets; and (4) The development of internet based booking tools and travel agency IT. The survey shows differences in views between travel managers, and travellers with regard to corporate travel policies. While travel managers see policy rules, travellers interpret these as guidelines, indicating travel managers will need to take further actions to exercise true control of travel budgets. The data shows that companies are more likely to prescribe a class of airline ticket, than the choice of airline itself. Corporate hierarchical bias in travel policies is still common both for short and particularly long haul flying. Other findings show that while travel managers believe that their companies are likely to sign global deals with strategic airline groups within a five year period in a bid to consolidating spending, they also believe that nearly a third of short haul flying will be taken with low cost carriers, indicating further penetration in this business travel market by these carriers. The paper also provides other predictions about the business travel market, based on the survey findings.

A general relationship between disorder, aggregation and charge transport in conjugated polymers

KAUST Repository

Noriega, Rodrigo; Rivnay, Jonathan; Vandewal, Koen; Koch, Felix P. V.; Stingelin, Natalie; Smith, Paul; Toney, Michael F.; Salleo, Alberto

2013-01-01

Conjugated polymer chains have many degrees of conformational freedom and interact weakly with each other, resulting in complex microstructures in the solid state. Understanding charge transport in such systems, which have amorphous and ordered phases exhibiting varying degrees of order, has proved difficult owing to the contribution of electronic processes at various length scales. The growing technological appeal of these semiconductors makes such fundamental knowledge extremely important for materials and process design. We propose a unified model of how charge carriers travel in conjugated polymer films. We show that in high-molecular-weight semiconducting polymers the limiting charge transport step is trapping caused by lattice disorder, and that short-range intermolecular aggregation is sufficient for efficient long-range charge transport. This generalization explains the seemingly contradicting high performance of recently reported, poorly ordered polymers and suggests molecular design strategies to further improve the performance of future generations of organic electronic materials. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

A general relationship between disorder, aggregation and charge transport in conjugated polymers

KAUST Repository

Noriega, Rodrigo

2013-08-04

Conjugated polymer chains have many degrees of conformational freedom and interact weakly with each other, resulting in complex microstructures in the solid state. Understanding charge transport in such systems, which have amorphous and ordered phases exhibiting varying degrees of order, has proved difficult owing to the contribution of electronic processes at various length scales. The growing technological appeal of these semiconductors makes such fundamental knowledge extremely important for materials and process design. We propose a unified model of how charge carriers travel in conjugated polymer films. We show that in high-molecular-weight semiconducting polymers the limiting charge transport step is trapping caused by lattice disorder, and that short-range intermolecular aggregation is sufficient for efficient long-range charge transport. This generalization explains the seemingly contradicting high performance of recently reported, poorly ordered polymers and suggests molecular design strategies to further improve the performance of future generations of organic electronic materials. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Avaliação do desempenho logístico do transporte rodoviário de madeira utilizando rede de petri em uma empresa florestal de Minas Gerais Evalution of logistic performance of wood hauling using petri net in a forest industry of Minas Gerais

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raiane Ribeiro Machado

2006-12-01

wood transport cycle time consists of wood loading, wood hauling, wood unloading, garage and wood unhauling. A cellulose producing company in the State of Minas Gerais was used as case study. Initially, the logistics and supply chain of the company was diagnosed to know the main existent obstacles along the chain; defining their preliminary vary key parameters, based on the characterization of their structure and operation; finally, the main directors that condition their efficiency and competitiveness were identified and evaluated. The model of chain logistics of wood transport used the Temporal Petri Net for working with two times that correspond to a sensitization period. Their properties are as follows: simulation (working with hypothetical scenarios, dynamic (exit values depend on the entrance values; determinist (exit variables are not random; continuous (time is measured by real numbers; and temporal in the transitions. Scenarios, with the same variations in the two wood-producing regionals were created, and simulations with the JARP and ARP software were carried out to evaluate the operational and economic performance. The variations applied to the scenarios were: improvement of the forest roads; increase of loader numbers, and improvement of garage efficiency. For both regionals, the scenario with the three variations (Scenario 7 presented the largest reduction in cycle times of wood transport in relation to the current situation, being 19.24% and 21.48%, respectively, for Rio Doce and Cocais das Estrelas. The analyzed operational cost is the value paid for the freight, not including the investment costs. Both regionals, Rio Doce and Cocais das Estrelas, presented a larger reduction in the Scenario 7, of 20.09% and 21.22%, respectively.

Profit, productivity, and price differential: an international performance comparison of the natural gas transportation industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong-Dong Lee; Sung-Bae Park; Tai-Yoo Kim

1999-01-01

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of natural gas transportation utilities, focusing on the three-key strategic performance measures of profit, productivity, and price differential. We propose a methodology that expresses the three performance measures in a unified single equation using the Edgeworth index. The proposed methodology is applied to an international comparison of the performance of 28 natural gas transportation utilities operating in eight countries in which the business environments differ greatly. The empirical results show the possible causes of performance differences and may shed some light on the direction of regulatory policy, especially for developing countries that have relatively short histories in the natural gas industry, such as Korea. (author)

Energy for Transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Figueroa, Maria; Lah, Oliver; Fulton, Lewis M.

2014-01-01

Global transportation energy use is steeply rising, mainly as a result of increasing population and economic activity. Petroleum fuels remain the dominant energy source, reflecting advantages such as high energy density, low cost, and market availability. The movement of people and freight makes......, cost, distribution, infrastructure, storage, and public acceptability. The transition to low-carbon equitable and sustainable transport will take time but can be fostered by numerous short- and medium-term strategies that would benefit energy security, health, productivity, and sustainability....

Critical Care Air Transport Team severe traumatic brain injury short-term outcomes during flight for Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, L Renee; Borawski, J; Lairet, J; Limkakeng, A T

2017-10-01

Our understanding of the expertise and equipment required to air transport injured soldiers with severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) continue to evolve. We conducted a retrospective chart review of characteristics, interventions required and short-term outcomes of patients with severe TBI managed by the US Air Force Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs) deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom between 1 June 2007 and 31 August 2010. Patients were cared for based on guidelines given by the Brain Trauma Foundation and the Joint Theater Trauma System by non-neurosurgeon physicians with dedicated neurocritical care training. We report basic characteristics, injuries, interventions required and complications during transport. Intracranial haemorrhage was the most common diagnosis in this cohort. Most injuries were weapon related. During this study, there were no reported in-flight deaths. The majority of patients were mechanically ventilated. There were 45 patients who required at least one vasopressor to maintain adequate tissue perfusion, including four patients who required three or more. Some patients required intracranial pressure (ICP) management, treatment of diabetes insipidus and/or seizure prophylaxis medications. Air transport personnel must be prepared to provide standard critical care but also care specific to TBIs, including ICP control and management of diabetes insipidus. Although these patients and their potential complications are traditionally managed by neurosurgeons, those providers without neurosurgical backgrounds can be provided this training to help fill a wartime need. This study provides data for the future development of air transport guidelines for validating and clearing flight surgeons. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Perceptions of transport corridors and intermodal transport - as ways to control the space of freight transport flows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Leif Gjesing

2009-01-01

This paper presents empirical findings and results from a study conducted as a part of an INTERREG IIIB project on intermodal transport solutions and corridors in the North Sea Region (SUTRANET - Sustainable Transport Research & Development Network in the North Sea Region (Hansen et.al., 2007......; Kristiansen et.al., 2005 and http://www.sutranet.org/ ). The aim of the study has been to explore possibilities and barriers for the development of intermodal transport solutions in selected corridors in the North Sea Region. The North Sea Region is one among several regions appointed by the EU......-Commission to exemplify the operationalisation of the concept Motorways of the Sea (European Commission, 2004). The policies of promoting Motorways of the Sea is aiming at revitalise the short-sea-shipping within Europe as a transport industry, but also to relieve the heavily congested road network in central regions...

Wallerian degeneration slow mouse neurons are protected against cell death caused by mechanisms involving mitochondrial electron transport dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Tokunaga, Shinji; Araki, Toshiyuki

2012-03-01

Ischemia elicits a variety of stress responses in neuronal cells, which result in cell death. wld(S) Mice bear a mutation that significantly delays Wallerian degeneration. This mutation also protects all neuronal cells against other types of stresses resulting in cell death, including ischemia. To clarify the types of stresses that neuronal cell bodies derived from wld(S) mice are protected from, we exposed primary cultured neurons derived from wld(S) mice to various components of hypoxic stress. We found that wld(S) mouse neurons are protected against cellular injury induced by reoxygenation following hypoxic stress. Furthermore, we found that wld(S) mouse neurons are protected against functional impairment of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. These data suggest that Wld(S) protein expression may provide protection against neuronal cell death caused by mechanisms involving mitochondrial electron transport dysfunction. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Role of Transporters in Central Nervous System Drug Delivery and Blood-Brain Barrier Protection: Relevance to Treatment of Stroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hrvoje Brzica

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The only approved pharmacologic treatment for ischemic stroke is thrombolysis via recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA. A short therapeutic window and serious adverse events (ie, hemorrhage, excitotoxicity greatly limit r-tPA therapy, which indicates an essential need to develop novel stroke treatment paradigms. Transporters expressed at the blood-brain barrier (BBB provide a significant opportunity to advance stroke therapy via central nervous system delivery of drugs that have neuroprotective properties. Examples of such transporters include organic anion–transporting polypeptides (Oatps and organic cation transporters (Octs. In addition, multidrug resistance proteins (Mrps are transporter targets in brain microvascular endothelial cells that can be exploited to preserve BBB integrity in the setting of stroke. Here, we review current knowledge on stroke pharmacotherapy and demonstrate how endogenous BBB transporters can be targeted for improvement of ischemic stroke treatment.

Causes and consequences of short-term sea-level changes in the Cretaceous green- and "hothouse": Topics and context of IGCP Project 609

Science.gov (United States)

Sames, Benjamin; Wagreich, Michael

2015-04-01

In contrast to the well-understood process of glacial eustasy, controlled mainly by waxing and waning of continental ice sheets, significant short-term, i.e. 10s kyr to a few myr (3rd to 4th order cycles) sea-level changes during the Cretaceous major greenhouse episode remain enigmatic. Such cyclic changes are often explained by the presence of ephemeral ice sheets even during the hottest greenhouse phases ("hothouse periods"), such as the mid-Cretaceous. Though Cretaceous global eustasy involves processes like brief glacial episodes (glacio-eustasy) for which evidence was given - at least for the Early Cretaceous and the late Late Cretaceous - other mechanisms have to be taken into consideration for the "hothouse periods" during which continental ice shields are highly improbable, like the storage and release of groundwater (termed "limno-eustasy" or "aquifer-eustasy"), the possible effect and magnitude of which might have been highly underestimated. Investigation of the timing, the causes, and the consequences of significant short-term (i.e. mainly kyr to 100s of kyr) sea-level changes during the last major greenhouse episode of Earth history, the Cretaceous, is the ultimate goal of the UNESCO IGCP (International Geoscience Programme) project number 609 "Climate-environmental deteriorations during greenhouse phases: Causes and consequences of short-term Cretaceous sea-level changes" (2013-2017; http://www.univie.ac.at/igcp609/). This also comprises the global versus regional correlation and extent of the sequences, their cyclicities, as well as the processes and triggering mechanisms for these, and marine to non-marine correlations. Recent refinements of the geological time scale have made major advances for the Cretaceous to yield a resolution comparable to that of younger Earth history. It is now for the first time possible to correlate and date short-term Cretaceous sea-level records with a resolution appropriate for their detailed analysis. Recognized

Agenda 21: is there a transport agenda

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parisien, N.

1996-12-31

On June 13, 1992, late evening, though negotiations were being closed in Rio de Janeiro, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit). Agenda 21`s Chapter 9 (Protection of the atmosphere) and the Climate Convention -- addressing greenhouse gas emissions - also called CO{sub 2} -- have been adopted. Therefore, a consensus was reached over the importance of controlling, for which the transport sector is a major contributor, causing -- among others -- health hazards and the depletion of fossil-fuel on-renewable resources. But transport systems are essential as part of social and economic life. Over the past 30 years, superpowers and rich countries emitted most CO{sub 2} emissions -- more than 80 %. But beyond 2020, developing countries are most likely to consume more than half of the energy to a 1992 U. S. Congress Report). Furthermore, prices vary on only significantly within OECD countries, but also within developing countries. Beyond this primary challenge, the matter of technology transfers is another one. More advanced technologies are under control of only a few countries. Systems integration, electrification, intelligent vehicle highway systems, etc. do account as emerging technologies available for the turn of the century. So we must define a transport planning horizon, which addresses priorities for the short term: raising prices for non-renewable resources within OECD countries, according to international co-operation an co-ordination. Then, we must anticipate a technology-transfer program while raising prices in developing countries with the implementation of up to date technology. Increasing transport supply is not the only answer to sustainable transport. Transport demand management can also deliver services in more efficient ways... (author) 4 refs.

Specific climate impact of passenger and freight transport

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Emissions of short-lived species contribute significantly to : the climate impact of transportation. The magnitude of the effects : varies over time for each transport mode. This paper compares : first the absolute climate impacts of current passenge...

Integrated transport and renewable energy systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Lund, Henrik; Nørgaard, P.

2008-01-01

No single technology can solve the problem of ever increasing CO2 emissions from transport. Here, a coherent effort to integrate transport into energyplanning is proposed, using multiple means promoting sustainable transport. It is concluded that a 100 per cent renewable energy transport system...... is possible but is connected to significant challenges in the path towards it. Biomass is a limited resource and it is important to avoid effecting the production of food. The integration of the transport with the energy system is crucial as is a multi-pronged strategy. Short term solutions have to consider...

Are Chinese Green Transport Policies Effective? A New Perspective from Direct Pollution Rebound Effect, and Empirical Evidence From the Road Transport Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu-Yi Qiu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Air pollution has become a serious challenge in China. Emissions from motor vehicles have been found to be one main sources of air pollution. Although the Chinese government has undertaken numerous green policies to mitigate harmful emissions from road transport sector, it is still uncertain for both policy makers and researchers to know whether the policies are effective in the short and long terms. We propose a new concept of “pollution rebound effect” (PRE to estimate the effectiveness of green traffic policies. We estimate direct air PRE as a measure of the effectiveness of the policies of reducing air pollution from the transport sector based on time-series data from the period 1986–2014. We find that the short-term direct air PRE is −0.4105, and the corresponding long-run PRE is −0.246. The negative results indicate that the direct air PRE does not exist in the road passenger transport sector in China, both in the short term and in the long term during the period 1986–2014. This implies that the Chinese green transport policies are effective in terms of harmful emissions reduction in the transport sector. This research, to the best of our knowledge, is the first attempt to quantify the effectiveness of the green transport policies in the transitional period that China is currently undergoing.

Short-term oleoyl-estrone treatment affects capacity to manage lipids in rat adipose tissue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remesar Xavier

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Short-term OE (oleoyl-estrone treatment causes significant decreases in rat weight mainly due to adipose tissue loss. The aim of this work was to determine if OE treatment affects the expression of genes that regulate lipid metabolism in white adipose tissue. Results Gene expression in adipose tissue from female treated rats (48 hours was analysed by hybridization to cDNA arrays and levels of specific mRNAs were determined by real-time PCR. Treatment with OE decreased the expression of 232 genes and up-regulated 75 other genes in mesenteric white adipose tissue. The use of real-time PCR validate that, in mesenteric white adipose tissue, mRNA levels for Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL were decreased by 52%, those of Fatty Acid Synthase (FAS by 95%, those of Hormone Sensible Lipase (HSL by 32%, those of Acetyl CoA Carboxylase (ACC by 92%, those of Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1b (CPT1b by 45%, and those of Fatty Acid Transport Protein 1 (FATP1 and Adipocyte Fatty Acid Binding Protein (FABP4 by 52% and 49%, respectively. Conversely, Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNFα values showed overexpression (198%. Conclusion Short-term treatment with OE affects adipose tissue capacity to extract fatty acids from lipoproteins and to deal with fatty acid transport and metabolism.

Short-term calorie restriction feminizes the mRNA profiles of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters in livers of mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, Zidong Donna; Klaassen, Curtis D.

2014-01-01

Calorie restriction (CR) is one of the most effective anti-aging interventions in mammals. A modern theory suggests that aging results from a decline in detoxification capabilities and thus accumulation of damaged macromolecules. The present study aimed to determine how short-term CR alters mRNA profiles of genes that encode metabolism and detoxification machinery in the liver. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed CR (0, 15, 30, or 40%) diets for one month, followed by mRNA quantification of 98 xenobiotic processing genes (XPGs) in the liver, including 7 uptake transporters, 39 phase-I enzymes, 37 phase-II enzymes, 10 efflux transporters, and 5 transcription factors. In general, 15% CR did not alter mRNAs of most XPGs, whereas 30 and 40% CR altered over half of the XPGs (32 increased and 29 decreased). CR up-regulated some phase-I enzymes (fold increase), such as Cyp4a14 (12), Por (2.3), Nqo1 (1.4), Fmo2 (5.4), and Fmo3 (346), and numerous number of phase-II enzymes, such as Sult1a1 (1.2), Sult1d1 (2.0), Sult1e1 (33), Sult3a1 (2.2), Gsta4 (1.3), Gstm2 (1.3), Gstm3 (1.7), and Mgst3 (2.2). CR feminized the mRNA profiles of 32 XPGs in livers of male mice. For instance, CR decreased the male-predominantly expressed Oatp1a1 (97%) and increased the female-predominantly expressed Oatp1a4 (11). In conclusion, short-term CR alters the mRNA levels of over half of the 98 XPGs quantified in livers of male mice, and over half of these alterations appear to be due to feminization of the liver. - Highlights: • Utilized a graded CR model in male mice • The mRNA profiles of xenobiotic processing genes (XPGs) in liver were investigated. • CR up-regulates many phase-II enzymes. • CR tends to feminize the mRNA profiles of XPGs

Short-term calorie restriction feminizes the mRNA profiles of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters in livers of mice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fu, Zidong Donna [Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160 (United States); Klaassen, Curtis D., E-mail: cklaasse@kumc.edu [Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160 (United States)

2014-01-01

Calorie restriction (CR) is one of the most effective anti-aging interventions in mammals. A modern theory suggests that aging results from a decline in detoxification capabilities and thus accumulation of damaged macromolecules. The present study aimed to determine how short-term CR alters mRNA profiles of genes that encode metabolism and detoxification machinery in the liver. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed CR (0, 15, 30, or 40%) diets for one month, followed by mRNA quantification of 98 xenobiotic processing genes (XPGs) in the liver, including 7 uptake transporters, 39 phase-I enzymes, 37 phase-II enzymes, 10 efflux transporters, and 5 transcription factors. In general, 15% CR did not alter mRNAs of most XPGs, whereas 30 and 40% CR altered over half of the XPGs (32 increased and 29 decreased). CR up-regulated some phase-I enzymes (fold increase), such as Cyp4a14 (12), Por (2.3), Nqo1 (1.4), Fmo2 (5.4), and Fmo3 (346), and numerous number of phase-II enzymes, such as Sult1a1 (1.2), Sult1d1 (2.0), Sult1e1 (33), Sult3a1 (2.2), Gsta4 (1.3), Gstm2 (1.3), Gstm3 (1.7), and Mgst3 (2.2). CR feminized the mRNA profiles of 32 XPGs in livers of male mice. For instance, CR decreased the male-predominantly expressed Oatp1a1 (97%) and increased the female-predominantly expressed Oatp1a4 (11). In conclusion, short-term CR alters the mRNA levels of over half of the 98 XPGs quantified in livers of male mice, and over half of these alterations appear to be due to feminization of the liver. - Highlights: • Utilized a graded CR model in male mice • The mRNA profiles of xenobiotic processing genes (XPGs) in liver were investigated. • CR up-regulates many phase-II enzymes. • CR tends to feminize the mRNA profiles of XPGs.

Fostering transport and logistics research in the Benelux countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Witlox, Frank; Dullaert, Wout; Jourquin, Bart

Promoting high quality research and education in the field of transport, within its region, is the main goal of the Benelux Interuniversity Association of Transport Economists - BIVEC-GIBET for short. Founded in 1978, the Association has evolved from a small group of transport economists into a

Logistics in the cell: cargoes and transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadezhdina, E S

2014-09-01

Eukaryotic cells are large and thus require a vesicular transport system. The system involves the formation of membrane transport containers, their short- and long-distance movements, recognition of destination points, and fusion with other membranes. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of these processes is of theoretical and practical significance. This special issue of Biochemistry (Moscow) collects surveys and experimental articles describing various aspects of vesicular transport.

Restless Legs Syndrome -- Causes and Symptoms

Science.gov (United States)

... miles): 10 25 50 Share: Essentials in Sleep Insomnia Overview & Facts Symptoms & Causes Diagnosis & Self Tests Treatment Sleep Apnea Overview & Facts ... Self Test & Diagnosis Treatment Snoring Overview and Facts Causes and Symptoms Self Tests & ... Insomnia Short Sleeper Hypersomnias Narcolepsy Insufficient ...

In Shackleton's trails: Central and local thermoadaptive modifications to cold and hypoxia after a man-hauling expedition on the Antarctic Plateau.

Science.gov (United States)

Keramidas, Michail E; Kölegård, Roger; Eiken, Ola

2018-04-01

Cold and hypoxia constitute the main environmental stressors encountered on the Antarctic Plateau. Hence, we examined whether central and/or peripheral acclimatisation to the combined stressors of cold and hypoxia would be developed in four men following an 11-day man-hauling expedition on this polar region. Before and after the journey, participants performed a static whole-body immersion in 21 °C water, during which they were breathing a hypoxic gas (partial pressure of inspired O 2 : ~97 mmHg). To evaluate their local responses to cold, participants also immersed the hand into 8 °C water for 30 min, while they were whole-body immersed and mildly hypothermic [i.e. 0.5 °C fall in rectal temperature (T rec ) from individual pre-immersion values]. T rec and skin temperature (T sk ), skin blood flux, and oxygen uptake (reflecting shivering thermogenesis) were monitored throughout. The polar expedition accelerated by ~14 min the drop in T rec [final mean (95% confidence interval) changes in T rec : Before = -0.94 (0.15) °C, After: - 1.17 (0.23) °C]. The shivering onset threshold [Before: 19 (22) min, After: 25 (19) min] and gain [Before: - 4.19 (3.95) mL min -1 kg -1 , After: - 1.70 (1.21) mL min -1 kg -1 ] were suppressed by the expedition. T sk did not differ between trials. The development of a greater post-expedition hypothermic state did not compromise finger circulation during the hand-cooling phase. Present findings indicate therefore that a hypothermic pattern of cold acclimatisation, as investigated in hypoxia, was developed following a short-term expedition on the South Polar Plateau; an adaptive response that is characterised mainly by suppressed shivering thermogenesis, and partly by blunted cutaneous vasoconstriction. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dispersion-optimized optical fiber for high-speed long-haul dense wavelength division multiplexing transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jindong; Chen, Liuhua; Li, Qingguo; Wu, Wenwen; Sun, Keyuan; Wu, Xingkun

2011-07-01

Four non-zero-dispersion-shifted fibers with almost the same large effective area (Aeff) and optimized dispersion properties are realized by novel index profile designing and modified vapor axial deposition and modified chemical vapor deposition processes. An Aeff of greater than 71 μm2 is obtained for the designed fibers. Three of the developed fibers with positive dispersion are improved by reducing the 1550nm dispersion slope from 0.072ps/nm2/km to 0.063ps/nm2/km or 0.05ps/nm2/km, increasing the 1550nm dispersion from 4.972ps/nm/km to 5.679ps/nm/km or 7.776ps/nm/km, and shifting the zero-dispersion wavelength from 1500nm to 1450nm. One of these fibers is in good agreement with G655D and G.656 fibers simultaneously, and another one with G655E and G.656 fibers; both fibers are beneficial to high-bit long-haul dense wavelength division multiplexing systems over S-, C-, and L-bands. The fourth developed fiber with negative dispersion is also improved by reducing the 1550nm dispersion slope from 0.12ps/nm2/km to 0.085ps/nm2/km, increasing the 1550nm dispersion from -4ps/nm/km to -6.016ps/nm/km, providing facilities for a submarine transmission system. Experimental measurements indicate that the developed fibers all have excellent optical transmission and good macrobending and splice performances.

Vehicle emissions of short-lived and long-lived climate forcers: trends and tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Morgan R; Klemun, Magdalena M; Kim, Hyung Chul; Wallington, Timothy J; Winkler, Sandra L; Tamor, Michael A; Trancik, Jessika E

2017-08-24

Evaluating technology options to mitigate the climate impacts of road transportation can be challenging, particularly when they involve a tradeoff between long-lived emissions (e.g., carbon dioxide) and short-lived emissions (e.g., methane or black carbon). Here we present trends in short- and long-lived emissions for light- and heavy-duty transport globally and in the U.S., EU, and China over the period 2000-2030, and we discuss past and future changes to vehicle technologies to reduce these emissions. We model the tradeoffs between short- and long-lived emission reductions across a range of technology options, life cycle emission intensities, and equivalency metrics. While short-lived vehicle emissions have decreased globally over the past two decades, significant reductions in CO 2 will be required by mid-century to meet climate change mitigation targets. This is true regardless of the time horizon used to compare long- and short-lived emissions. The short-lived emission intensities of some low-CO 2 technologies are higher than others, and thus their suitability for meeting climate targets depends sensitively on the evaluation time horizon. Other technologies offer low intensities of both short-lived emissions and CO 2 .

IN-SITU RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT NEAR THE NOPAL I URANIUM DEPOSIT AT PENA BLANCA, MEXICO: CONSTRAINTS FROM SHORT-LIVED DECAY-SERIES RADIONUCLIDES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

S. Luo; T.L. Ku; V. Todd; M. Murrell; J. Alfredo Rodriguez Pineda; J. Dinsmoor; A. Mitchell

2005-07-11

For nuclear waste management, an important mechanism by which radioactive waste components are isolated from returning to the human environment, the biosphere, is by the geological barrier in which the effectiveness of the barrier is characterized by in-situ retardation factor, i.e., the transport rate of a radionuclide relative to that of groundwater. As part of natural analog studies of the Yucca Mountain Project of the U. S. Department of Energy, we propose such characterization by using naturally-occurring decay-series radioisotopes as an analog. We collected large-volume (>1000 liters) groundwater samples from three wells (PB, Pozos, and PB4, respectively) near the Nopal I Uranium Ore site at Pena Blanca, Mexico, by using an in-situ Mn-cartridge filtration technique for analysis of short-lived decay-series radionuclides. Results show that the activities of short-lived radioisotopes ({sup 228}Ra, {sup 224}Ra and {sup 223}Ra) and activity ratios of {sup 224}Ra/{sup 228}Ra and {sup 224}Ra/{sup 223}Ra are higher at PB and Pozos than at PB4. In contrast, the {sup 210}Po activity is much lower at PB and Pozos than at PB4. The high Ra activities and activities ratios at PB and Pozos are attributable to the high alpha-recoil input from the aquifer rocks, while the high {sup 210}Po activity at PB4 is due to the enhanced colloidal transport. Based on a uranium-series transport model, we estimate that the in-situ retardation factor of Ra is (0.43 {+-} 0.02) x 10{sup 3} at PB, (1.68 {+-} 0.08) x 10{sup 3} at Pozos, and (1.19 {+-} 0.08) x 10{sup 3} at PB4 and that the mean fracture width in the aquifer rocks is about 0.23 {micro}m at PB, 0.37 {micro}m at Posos, and 4.0 {micro}m at PB4, respectively. The large fracture width at PB4 as derived from the model provides an additional evidence to the inference from the Po measurements that particle-reactive radionuclides are transported mainly as colloidal forms through the large fractures in rocks. Our model also suggests that

Conceptual Design of a 150-Passenger Civil Tiltrotor

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Guillermo

2012-01-01

The conceptual design of a short-haul civil tiltrotor aircraft is presented. The concept vehicle is designed for runway-independent operations to increase the capacity of the National Airspace System without the need for increased infrastructure. This necessitates a vehicle that is capable of integrating with conventional air traffic without interfering with established flightpaths. The NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft software was used to size the concept vehicle based on the mission requirements of this market. The final configuration was selected based upon performance metrics such as acquisition and maintenance costs, fuel fraction, empty weight, and required engine power. The concept presented herein has a proposed initial operating capability date of 2035, and is intended to integrate with conventional air traffic as well as proposed future air transportation concepts.

Short-term mechanisms influencing volumetric brain dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikki Dieleman

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and brain analysis tools, it has become possible to measure brain volume changes up to around 0.5%. Besides long-term brain changes caused by atrophy in aging or neurodegenerative disease, short-term mechanisms that influence brain volume may exist. When we focus on short-term changes of the brain, changes may be either physiological or pathological. As such determining the cause of volumetric dynamics of the brain is essential. Additionally for an accurate interpretation of longitudinal brain volume measures by means of neurodegeneration, knowledge about the short-term changes is needed. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the possible mechanisms influencing brain volumes on a short-term basis and set-out a framework of MRI techniques to be used for volumetric changes as well as the used analysis tools. 3D T1-weighted images are the images of choice when it comes to MRI of brain volume. These images are excellent to determine brain volume and can be used together with an analysis tool to determine the degree of volume change. Mechanisms that decrease global brain volume are: fluid restriction, evening MRI measurements, corticosteroids, antipsychotics and short-term effects of pathological processes like Alzheimer's disease, hypertension and Diabetes mellitus type II. Mechanisms increasing the brain volume include fluid intake, morning MRI measurements, surgical revascularization and probably medications like anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-hypertensive medication. Exercise was found to have no effect on brain volume on a short-term basis, which may imply that dehydration caused by exercise differs from dehydration by fluid restriction. In the upcoming years, attention should be directed towards studies investigating physiological short-term changes within the light of long-term pathological changes. Ultimately this may lead to a better understanding of the physiological short-term effects of

Mercury simulations within GMOS: Analysis of short-term observational episodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Travnikov O.

2013-04-01

Full Text Available A number of contemporary chemical transport models for mercury are applied within the framework of the EU GMOS project to study principal processes of mercury transport and transformations in the atmosphere. Each model is involved in simulation of short-term episodes corresponding to particular Hg measurement campaigns in Europe and other regions. In order to evaluate different physical and chemical mechanisms the models perform sensitivity runs with various parameterizations and/or combinations of considered processes. The modeling results are compared to detailed measurements of Hg species (Hg0/TGM, RGM, HgP with high temporal resolution (hours aiming at reproduction of short-term temporal variability of Hg air concentration.

Nutritive support in short Bowel syndrome (sbs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simić Dušica

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Short bowel syndrome most commonly result after bowel resection for necrosis of the bowel. It may be caused by arterial or venous thrombosis, volvolus and in children, necrotizing enterocolitis. The other causes are Crohn,s disease intestinal atresia. The factors influencing the risk on short bowel syndrome are the remaining length of the small bowel, the age of onset, the length of the colon, the presence or absence of the ileo-coecal valve and the time after resection. Besides nutritional deficiencies there some other consequences of extensive resections of the small intestine (gastric acid hypersecretion, d-lactic acidosis, nephrolithiasis, cholelithiasis, which must be diagnosed, treated, and if possible, prevented. With current therapy most patients with short bowel have normal body mass index and good quality of life.

Water-transporting proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zeuthen, Thomas

2010-01-01

. In the K(+)/Cl(-) and the Na(+)/K(+)/2Cl(-) cotransporters, water is entirely cotransported, while water transport in glucose uniporters and Na(+)-coupled transporters of nutrients and neurotransmitters takes place by both osmosis and cotransport. The molecular mechanism behind cotransport of water...... transport. Epithelial water transport is energized by the movements of ions, but how the coupling takes place is uncertain. All epithelia can transport water uphill against an osmotic gradient, which is hard to explain by simple osmosis. Furthermore, genetic removal of aquaporins has not given support...... to osmosis as the exclusive mode of transport. Water cotransport can explain the coupling between ion and water transport, a major fraction of transepithelial water transport and uphill water transport. Aquaporins enhance water transport by utilizing osmotic gradients and cause the osmolarity...

Low carbon scenarios for transport in India: Co-benefits analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dhar, Subash; Shukla, Priyadarshi R.

2015-01-01

Dependence on oil for transport is a concern for India's policymakers on three counts – energy security, local environment and climate change. Rapid urbanisation and accompanying motorisation has created some of the most polluting cities in India and rising demand for oil is leading to higher imports, besides causing more CO 2 emissions. The government of India wants to achieve the climate goals through a sustainability approach that simultaneously addresses other environment and developmental challenges. This paper analyses a sustainable low carbon transport (SLCT) scenario based on sustainable strategies for passenger and freight mobility, vehicle technologies and fuel using global CO 2 prices that correspond to 2 °C global stabilisation target. The scenarios span from years 2010 to 2050 and are analysed using the energy system model-ANSWER MARKAL. The SLCT scenario has improved energy security (cumulative oil demand lower by 3100 Mtoe), improved air quality (PM 2.5 emissions never exceed the existing levels) and the cumulative CO 2 emissions are lower by 13 billion t CO 2 thereby showing that achieving development objectives with CO 2 co-benefits is feasible. -- Highlights: •India's BAU transitions pose challenges for energy security and climate change. •Sustainable transport policies deliver benefits for air quality and energy security. •Sustainable transport policies fall short of mitigation needed for 2 °C stabilisation. •Transport sector becomes increasingly dependent on electricity. •Low carbon policies are essential to clean transport and electricity generation

Effect of fare and travel time on the demand for domestic air transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksen, S. E.; Liu, E. W.

1979-01-01

An econometric travel demand model was presented. The model was used for analyzing long haul domestic passenger markets in the United States. The results showed the sensitivities of demand to changes in fares and speed reflecting technology through more efficient aircraft designs.

Improvement of the chromatic dispersion tolerance in coherent optical OFDM systems using shifted DFT windows for ultra-long-haul optical transmission systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Minkyu; Kim, Hoon; Lee, Jaehoon; Jeong, Jichai

2014-09-22

In a high-capacity ultra-long-haul optical coherent orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) system, the dispersion tolerance is determined by the length of cyclic extension (CE). In this paper, we propose a novel scheme to substantially improve the dispersion tolerance of CO-OFDM systems without increasing the CE length. Multiple time-shifted discrete Fourier transform (DFT) windows are exploited at the receiver, each demodulating only a part of the subcarriers. Effectively, the proposed scheme reduces the bandwidth of the OFDM signals under demodulation. Numerical simulations are performed to show the improved dispersion tolerance of the proposed scheme in comparison with the conventional CO-OFDM system. We show that the dispersion tolerance improves by a factor equal to the number of DFT windows. The tradeoff between the improved dispersion tolerance and increased receiver complexity is also presented.

Transporter taxonomy - a comparison of different transport protein classification schemes.

Science.gov (United States)

Viereck, Michael; Gaulton, Anna; Digles, Daniela; Ecker, Gerhard F

2014-06-01

Currently, there are more than 800 well characterized human membrane transport proteins (including channels and transporters) and there are estimates that about 10% (approx. 2000) of all human genes are related to transport. Membrane transport proteins are of interest as potential drug targets, for drug delivery, and as a cause of side effects and drug–drug interactions. In light of the development of Open PHACTS, which provides an open pharmacological space, we analyzed selected membrane transport protein classification schemes (Transporter Classification Database, ChEMBL, IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology, and Gene Ontology) for their ability to serve as a basis for pharmacology driven protein classification. A comparison of these membrane transport protein classification schemes by using a set of clinically relevant transporters as use-case reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the different taxonomy approaches.

Regulation of electrolyte transport with IL-1β in rabbit distal colon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. R. Homaidan

1995-01-01

Full Text Available Interletrkin-1β levels are elevated in inflammatory bowel disease. In this study the mechanism by which interleukin-1β affects electrolyte transport in the rabbit distal colon, was investigated. Interleukin-1β caused a delayed increase in short-circuit current (Isc which was attributed to protein synthesis since the effect was inhibited by cycloheximide. The interleukin-1β induced increase in Isc was not affected by amiloride treatment but was completely inhibited by bumetanide or in chloride-free buffer and by indomethacin. Prostaglandin E2 levels increased in tissue treated with interleukin-1β, but this increase was reversed by cycloheximide. These data suggest that interleukin-1β causes its effect via a yet to be identified second messenger, by increasing chloride secretion through a prostaglandin E2 mediated mechanism.

Short-cut transport path for Asian dust directly to the Arctic: a case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Zhongwei; Huang, Jianping; Wang, Shanshan; Zhou, Tian; Jin, Hongchun; Hayasaka, Tadahiro

2015-01-01

Asian dust can be transported long distances from the Taklimakan or Gobi desert to North America across the Pacific Ocean, and it has been found to have a significant impact on ecosystems, climate, and human health. Although it is well known that Asian dust is transported all over the globe, there are limited observations reporting Asian dust transported to the Arctic. We report a case study of a large-scale heavy dust storm over East Asia on 19 March 2010, as shown by ground-based and space-borne multi-sensor observations, as well as NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and HYSPLIT trajectories. Our analysis suggests that Asian dust aerosols were transported from northwest China to the Arctic within 5 days, crossing eastern China, Japan and Siberia before reaching the Arctic. The results indicate that Asian dust can be transported for long distances along a previously unreported transport path. Evidence from other dust events over the past decade (2001–2010) also supports our results, indicating that dust from 25.2% of Asian dust events has potentially been transported directly to the Arctic. The transport of Asian dust to the Arctic is due to cyclones and the enhanced East Asia Trough (EAT), which are very common synoptic systems over East Asia. This suggests that many other large dust events would have generated long-range transport of dust to the Arctic along this path in the past. Thus, Asian dust potentially affects the Arctic climate and ecosystem, making climate change in the Arctic much more complex to be fully understood. (letter)

NIOSH national survey of long-haul truck drivers: Injury and safety

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Guang X.; Sieber, W. Karl; Lincoln, Jennifer E.; Birdsey, Jan; Hitchcock, Edward M.; Nakata, Akinori; Robinson, Cynthia F.; Collins, James W.; Sweeney, Marie H.

2015-01-01

Approximately 1,701,500 people were employed as heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the United States in 2012. The majority of them were long-haul truck drivers (LHTDs). There are limited data on occupational injury and safety in LHTDs, which prompted a targeted national survey. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health conducted a nationally representative survey of 1265 LHTDs at 32 truck stops across the contiguous United States in 2010. Data were collected on truck crashes, near misses, moving violations, work-related injuries, work environment, safety climate, driver training, job satisfaction, and driving behaviors. Results suggested that an estimated 2.6% of LHTDs reported a truck crash in 2010, 35% reported at least one crash while working as an LHTD, 24% reported at least one near miss in the previous 7 days, 17% reported at least one moving violation ticket and 4.7% reported a non-crash injury involving days away from work in the previous 12 months. The majority (68%) of non-crash injuries among company drivers were not reported to employers. An estimate of 73% of LHTDs (16% often and 58% sometimes) perceived their delivery schedules unrealistically tight; 24% often continued driving despite fatigue, bad weather, or heavy traffic because they needed to deliver or pick up a load at a given time; 4.5% often drove 10 miles per hours or more over the speed limit; 6.0% never wore a seatbelt; 36% were often frustrated by other drivers on the road; 35% often had to wait for access to a loading dock; 37% reported being noncompliant with hours-of-service rules (10% often and 27% sometimes); 38% of LHTDs perceived their entry-level training inadequate; and 15% did not feel that safety of workers was a high priority with their management. This survey brings to light a number of important safety issues for further research and interventions, e.g., high prevalence of truck crashes, injury underreporting, unrealistically tight delivery schedules

Environmental assessment of freight transportation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flodstroem, E. [MariTerm AB, Goeteborg (Sweden)

1998-04-01

This report is a short version in English of two reports in Swedish: KFB report 1994:6 `Environmental effects of change of transport mode for goods transportation` and `Combining of transport models` which was performed as a commission for the Swedish environmental protection agency. The aim of both studies is to investigate the environmental effects of political measures to transfer goods from one transport mode to another. To be able to calculate the environmental effects a method to follow the transport chains has been developed. By defining the transport chains with a main transport mode it has been possible to relate the emissions to the different modes. The main results are that the transferable volumes are limited and even if a maximum volume is transferred, the positive environmental effects are small compared to the effects of measures to reduce the emissions from the vehicles 3 refs, 22 figs, 34 tabs

Idling Reduction for Long-Haul Trucks: An Economic Comparison of On-Board and Wayside Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaines, Linda [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Weikersheimer, Patricia [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2016-09-01

Reducing the idling of long-haul heavy-duty trucks has long been recognized as a particularly low-hanging fruit of fuel efficiency and emissions reduction. The displacement of about 10 hours of diesel idling every day, for most days of the year, for as many as a million long-haul trucks has very clear benefits. This report considers the costs and return on investment (ROI) for idling reduction (IR) equipment for both truck owners and electrified parking space (EPS) equipment owners. For the truck owners, the key variables examined are idling hours to be displaced (generally 1,000 to 2,000 hours per year) and the price of fuel ($0 to $5/gal). The ideal IR option would provide complete services in varied climates in any location and offer the best ROI on trucks that log many idling hours. For trucks that have fewer idling hours, options with a fixed cost per hour (i.e., EPS) might be most attractive if they were available to all, or even most, truck drivers. EPS, however, is particularly cost effective for trucks on prescribed routes with a need for regular, extended stops at terminals. (EPS is also called truck stop electrification, or TSE.) The analysis shows that all IR options save money when fuel costs more than $2/gal. For trucks requiring bunk heat, a simple heater (plug-in or diesel) is almost always the most costeffective way to provide heat, even if the truck is equipped with an auxiliary power unit (APU) or is parked at a single-system EPS location. For trucks requiring bunk air-conditioning, the use of single-system EPS is most cost effective for those logging fewer idling hours. Even for trucks with higher idling hours, the cost of EPS may be about the same as that for on-board air-conditioning. Clearly, trucks’ locations and seasonal factors—and the availability of EPS— are significant in the choice of “best fit” IR equipment for truck owners. This report also considers costs and payback for owners of EPS infrastructure. An industry that 5

Shock jewel cases for delicate transports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2004-01-01

The French atomic energy commission (CEA) has become a reference specialist in the transportation of toxic, flammable, explosive or fragile materials or objects. Initially developed for its own activities, the Direction of military applications (DAM) of the CEA offers also its competences in containers testing and transportation scenarios to other industrial companies. Short article reprinted from CEA Technologies no. 69. (J.S.)

Impairment of Release Site Clearance within the Active Zone by Reduced SCAMP5 Expression Causes Short-Term Depression of Synaptic Release

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daehun Park

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Summary: Despite being a highly enriched synaptic vesicle (SV protein and a candidate gene for autism, the physiological function of SCAMP5 remains mostly enigmatic. Here, using optical imaging and electrophysiological experiments, we demonstrate that SCAMP5 plays a critical role in release site clearance at the active zone. Truncation analysis revealed that the 2/3 loop domain of SCAMP5 directly interacts with adaptor protein 2, and this interaction is critical for its role in release site clearance. Knockdown (KD of SCAMP5 exhibited pronounced synaptic depression accompanied by a slower recovery of the SV pool. Moreover, it induced a strong frequency-dependent short-term depression of synaptic release, even under the condition of sufficient release-ready SVs. Super-resolution microscopy further proved the defects in SV protein clearance induced by KD. Thus, reduced expression of SCAMP5 may impair the efficiency of SV clearance at the active zone, and this might relate to the synaptic dysfunction observed in autism. : Park et al. show that SCAMP5 plays an important role in release site clearance during intense neuronal activity. Loss of SCAMP5 results in a traffic jam at release sites, causing aberrant short-term synaptic depression that might be associated with the synaptic dysfunction observed in autism. Keywords: secretory carrier membrane protein, SCAMP5, autism spectrum disorder, adaptor protein 2, release site clearance, presynaptic active zone, short-term depression, endocytosis, super-resolution microscopy

Hydrodynamic efficiency and thermal transport in planar target experiments at LLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boehly, T.; Goldman, L.M.; Seka, W.; Craxton, R.S.

1984-01-01

The authors report the results of single beam irradiation of thin CH foils at laser intensities of 10 13 to 10 15 W/cm 2 in 0.8 ns pulses containing 20 to 50 J of 350 nm and 1054 nm light. They also discuss the hydrodynamic efficiency, thermal transport and preheat in these targets. Included is the measurement of the ion blowoff energy distribution and velocity. The efficient acceleration by short wavelength radiation causes target displacements comparable to the spot size resulting in two-dimension effects. The results are adequately modeled with the 2-D hydrocode SAGE using a flux limiter of f=0.04

Transportation of Organs by Air: Safety, Quality, and Sustainability Criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantecchini, L; Paganelli, F; Morabito, V; Ricci, A; Peritore, D; Trapani, S; Montemurro, A; Rizzo, A; Del Sordo, E; Gaeta, A; Rizzato, L; Nanni Costa, A

2016-03-01

The outcomes of organ transplantation activities are greatly affected by the ability to haul organs and medical teams quickly and safely. Organ allocation and usage criteria have greatly improved over time, whereas the same result has not been achieved so far from the transport point of view. Safety and the highest level of service and efficiency must be reached to grant transplant recipients the healthiest outcome. The Italian National Transplant Centre (CNT), in partnership with the regions and the University of Bologna, has promoted a thorough analysis of all stages of organ transportation logistics chains to produce homogeneous and shared guidelines throughout the national territory, capable of ensuring safety, reliability, and sustainability at the highest levels. The mapping of all 44 transplant centers and the pertaining airport network has been implemented. An analysis of technical requirements among organ shipping agents at both national and international level has been promoted. A national campaign of real-time monitoring of organ transport activities at all stages of the supply chain has been implemented. Parameters investigated have been hospital and region of both origin and destination, number and type of organs involved, transport type (with or without medical team), stations of arrival and departure, and shipping agents, as well as actual times of activities involved. National guidelines have been issued to select organ storage units and shipping agents on the basis of evaluation of efficiency, reliability, and equipment with reference to organ type and ischemia time. Guidelines provide EU-level standards on technical equipment of aircrafts, professional requirements of shipping agencies and cabin crew, and requirements on service provision, including pricing criteria. The introduction in the Italian legislation of guidelines issuing minimum requirements on topics such as the medical team, packaging, labeling, safety and integrity, identification

A Transportation Risk Assessment Tool for Analyzing the Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste to the Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Best, Ralph; Winnard, T.; Ross, S.; Best, R.

2001-01-01

The Yucca Mountain Transportation Database was developed as a data management tool for assembling and integrating data from multiple sources to compile the potential transportation impacts presented in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DEIS). The database uses the results from existing models and codes such as RADTRAN, RISKIND, INTERLINE, and HIGHWAY to estimate transportation-related impacts of transporting spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from commercial reactors and U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities to Yucca Mountain. The source tables in the database are compendiums of information from many diverse sources including: radionuclide quantities for each waste type; route and route characteristics for rail, legal-weight truck, heavy haul. truck, and barge transport options; state-specific accident and fatality rates for routes selected for analysis; packaging and shipment data by waste type; unit risk factors; the complex behavior of the packaged waste forms in severe transport accidents; and the effects of exposure to radiation or the isotopic specific effects of radionclides should they be released in severe transportation accidents. The database works together with the codes RADTRAN (Neuhauser, et al, 1994) and RISKlND (Yuan, et al, 1995) to calculate incident-free dose and accident risk. For the incident-free transportation scenario, the database uses RADTRAN and RISKIND-generated data to calculate doses to offlink populations, onlink populations, people at stops, crews, inspectors, workers at intermodal transfer stations, guards at overnight stops, and escorts, as well as non-radioactive pollution health effects. For accident scenarios, the database uses RADTRAN-generated data to calculate dose risks based on ingestion, inhalation, resuspension, immersion (cloudshine), and groundshine as

Kreta als Beispiel: German Airlift During the Battle of Crete

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-13

the superb narratives that cater to no particular affiliation, branch or context. Research into these texts reveals that the Germans constructed an...a commercial airline transport; pressed into Luftwaffe service, it could haul twenty passengers, thirteen parachute troops or two tons of cargo...

Transport phenomena in Newtonian fluids a concise primer

CERN Document Server

Olsson, Per

2013-01-01

This short primer provides a concise and tutorial-style introduction to transport phenomena in Newtonian fluids , in particular the transport of mass, energy and momentum.  The reader will find detailed derivations of the transport equations for these phenomena, as well as selected analytical solutions to the transport equations in some simple geometries. After a brief introduction to the basic mathematics used in the text, Chapter 2, which deals with momentum transport, presents a derivation of the Navier-Stokes-Duhem equation describing the basic flow in a Newtonian fluid.  Also provided at

Status of transport events involving radioactive materials which occurred in France between 1999 and 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

This report presents transport events involving radioactive materials, occurred on French territory from 1999 to 2011, listed in the IRSN's database. 1,304 events have been recorded. For each of them, many parameters have been collected and analysed from information listed in the notifications and reports of the events sent by users (type of event, purpose, package design, level on the INES scale...). The numbers of events notified in 2010 and 2011 are slightly higher than the average of 100 events per year. The two main causes of notification concern documentation errors (in transport documents or labeling) and handling mishaps. The downward trend of frequency of package or conveyance contaminations has been confirmed. A short description of the outstanding events occurred in 2010 and 2011 is proposed. This synthesis also gives an outline of the actions recommended by IRSN to avoid recurrence of the notified events and improve the safety of the transports of radioactive materials

High-frequency acoustic charge transport in GaAs nanowires

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Büyükköse, S.; Hernandez-Minguez, A.; Vratzov, B.; Somaschini, C.; Geelhaar, L.; Riechert, H.; van der Wiel, Wilfred Gerard; Santos, P.V.

2014-01-01

The oscillating piezoelectric fields accompanying surface acoustic waves are able to transport charge carriers in semiconductor heterostructures. Here, we demonstrate high-frequency (above 1 GHz) acoustic charge transport in GaAs-based nanowires deposited on a piezoelectric substrate. The short

Transportable hyperpolarized metabolites

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Xiao; Bornet, Aurélien; Vuichoud, Basile; Milani, Jonas; Gajan, David; Rossini, Aaron J.; Emsley, Lyndon; Bodenhausen, Geoffrey; Jannin, Sami

2017-01-01

Nuclear spin hyperpolarization of 13C-labelled metabolites by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization can enhance the NMR signals of metabolites by several orders of magnitude, which has enabled in vivo metabolic imaging by MRI. However, because of the short lifetime of the hyperpolarized magnetization (typically <1 min), the polarization process must be carried out close to the point of use. Here we introduce a concept that markedly extends hyperpolarization lifetimes and enables the transportation of hyperpolarized metabolites. The hyperpolarized sample can thus be removed from the polarizer and stored or transported for use at remote MRI or NMR sites. We show that hyperpolarization in alanine and glycine survives 16 h storage and transport, maintaining overall polarization enhancements of up to three orders of magnitude. PMID:28072398

Daily tourist arrivals, exchange rates and volatility for Korea and Taiwan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael)

2009-01-01

textabstractBoth domestic and international tourism are a major source of service export receipts for many countries worldwide, and is also increasingly important in Taiwan. One of the three leading tourism source countries for Taiwan is the Republic of Korea, which is a source of short haul

Daily Tourist Arrivals, Exchange Rates and Volatility for Korea and Taiwan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael)

2009-01-01

textabstractBoth domestic and international tourism are a major source of service export receipts for many countries worldwide, and is also increasingly important in Taiwan. One of the three leading tourism source countries for Taiwan is the Republic of Korea, which is a source of short haul

77 FR 72860 - Application for Final Commitment for a Long-Term Loan or Financial Guarantee in Excess of $100...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-06

... provide short- and medium-haul airline service in Indonesia and Malaysia, and between Indonesia and... exported are not expected to produce exports or provide services in competition with the exportation of goods or provision of services by a United States industry. Parties: Principal Supplier: The Boeing...

Characteristics of Loads of Cattle Stopping for Feed, Water and Rest during Long-Distance Transport in Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannah E. Flint

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study is the first comprehensive examination of long-haul cattle being transported across Canada and off-loaded for feed, water and rest. A total of 129 truckloads were observed at one of two commercial rest stations near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Data collected included information regarding the truck driver, the trailer, the trip, the animals and animal handling. The majority of the loads stopping were feeder calves (60.94% while 21.09% were weaned calves, and the remaining 14.84% were market weight cattle. The truck loads surveyed were in transit for, on average, 28.2 ± 5.0 hours before stopping and cattle were rested for an average of 11.2 ± 2.8 hours. These data suggest that loads stopping at the rest station were adhering to the regulations stated in the Health of Animals Act, which outline a maximum of 48 hours in transit before a mandatory stop of at least 5 hours for feed, water and rest. There was a large amount of variability around how well recommendations, such as stocking density were followed. Further research is required to assess how well cattle are coping with long-distance transport under current regulations and industry practices.

CLMP is required for intestinal development, and loss-of-function mutations cause congenital short-bowel syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Der Werf, Christine S.; Wabbersen, Tara D.; Hsiao, Nai-Hua; Paredes, Joana; Etchevers, Heather C.; Kroisel, Peter M.; Tibboel, Dick; Babarit, Candice; Schreiber, Richard A.; Hoffenberg, Edward J.; Vekemans, Michel; Zeder, Sirkka L.; Ceccherini, Isabella; Lyonnet, Stanislas; Ribeiro, Ana S.; Seruca, Raquel; Meerman, Gerard J. Te; van Ijzendoorn, Sven C. D.; Shepherd, Iain T.; Verheij, Joke B. G. M.; Hofstra, Robert M. W.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Short-bowel syndrome usually results from surgical resection of the small intestine for diseases such as intestinal atresias, volvulus, and necrotizing enterocolitis. Patients with congenital short-bowel syndrome (CSBS) are born with a substantial shortening of the small

The transport forecast - an important stage of transport management

Science.gov (United States)

Dragu, Vasile; Dinu, Oana; Oprea, Cristina; Alina Roman, Eugenia

2017-10-01

The transport system is a powerful system with varying loads in operation coming from changes in freight and passenger traffic in different time periods. The variations are due to the specific conditions of organization and development of socio-economic activities. The causes of varying loads can be included in three groups: economic, technical and organizational. The assessing of transport demand variability leads to proper forecast and development of the transport system, knowing that the market price is determined on equilibrium between supply and demand. The reduction of transport demand variability through different technical solutions, organizational, administrative, legislative leads to an increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of transport. The paper presents a new way of assessing the future needs of transport through dynamic series. Both researchers and practitioners in transport planning can benefit from the research results. This paper aims to analyze in an original approach how a good transport forecast can lead to a better management in transport, with significant effects on transport demand full meeting in quality terms. The case study shows how dynamic series of statistics can be used to identify the size of future demand addressed to the transport system.

Phase transitions and transport in anisotropic superconductors with large thermal fluctuations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, D.S.

1991-01-01

Fluctuation effects in conventional superconductors such as broadening of phase transitions and flux creep tend to be very small primarily because of the large coherence lengths. Thus mean field theory, with only small fluctuation corrections, usually provides an adequate description of these systems. Regimes in which fluctuation effects cause qualitatively different physics are very difficult to study as they typically occur in very small regions of the phase diagram or, in transport, require measuring extremely small voltages. In striking contrast, in the high temperature cuprate superconductors a combination of factors - short coherence lengths, anisotropy and higher temperatures - make fluctuation effects many orders of magnitude larger. The current understanding of transport and phase transitions in the cuprate superconductors-particularly YBCO and BSCCO-is reviewed. New results are presented on the two-dimensional regimes and 2D-3D crossover in the strongly anisotropic case of BSCCO. The emphasis is on pinning and vortex glass behavior

The safe transport of radioactive materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swindell, G.E.

1975-01-01

In the course of transport by road, rail, sea and air, consignments of radioactive material are in close proximity to ordinary members of the public and in most cases they are loaded and unloaded by transport workers who have no special training or experience in the handling of radioactive substances. The materials being transported cover a wide variety - ranging from small batches of short-lived radionuclides used in medical practice which can be transported in small sealed lead pots in cardboard boxes, to large, extremely radioactive consignments of irradiated nuclear fuel in flasks weighing many tons. With the growing development of nuclear power programmes the transport of irradiated fuel is likely to increase markedly. It is clear that unless adequate regulations concerning the design and assembly of the packages containing these materials are precisely set down and strictly carried out, there would be a high probability that some of the radioactive contents would be released, leading to contamination of other transported goods and the general environment, and to the delivery of a radiation dose to the transport workers and the public. An additional requirement is that the transport should proceed smoothly and without delay. This is particularly important for radioactive materials of short half-life, which would lose significant amounts of their total activity in unnecessary delays at international boundaries. Therefore, it is essential that the regulations are also enforced, to ensure that the radioactive material is contained and the surrounding radiation level reduced to a value which poses no threat to other sensitive goods such as photographic film, or to transport workers and other passengers. These regulations should be as uniform as possible on an international basis, so that consignments can move freely from one country to another with as little delay as possible at the frontiers. (author)

ANALYISIS OF TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AND TRANSPORTATION POLICIES IN TURKEY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Payıdar AKGÜNGÖR

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Transportation systems have to be considered and analysed as a whole while transportation demand, becoming as a natural outcome of socioeconomic and socio-cultural structure, is being evaluated. It is desired that transportation system, which will be selected for both passenger and freight transport, should be rapid, economic, safe, causing least harm to environment and appropriate for the conditions of a country. However, it is difficult for a transportation system to have all these properties. Every transportation system has advantages and disadvantages over each other. Therefore, comprehensive plans for future periods have to be prepared and how the sources of the country should be reasonably distributed among transportation systems must be investigated. Also, transportation plans have to be prepared to get coordinated operations among transportation systems while great investments are instituted in the entire country. There is no doubt that it is possible with combined transportation instead of concentration on one transportation system. Transportation policies in Turkey should be questioned since the level of highway transportation usage reaches to 95 % and level of sea transportation usage drops to less than 1 % in spite of being surrounded with sea in three sides of our land. In this paper, transportation systems and transportation policies in Turkey are evaluated in general and problems are analysed. Proposals are presented for the solutions of these problems.

Invited Article: Visualisation of extreme value events in optical communications

Science.gov (United States)

Derevyanko, Stanislav; Redyuk, Alexey; Vergeles, Sergey; Turitsyn, Sergei

2018-06-01

Fluctuations of a temporal signal propagating along long-haul transoceanic scale fiber links can be visualised in the spatio-temporal domain drawing visual analogy with ocean waves. Substantial overlapping of information symbols or use of multi-frequency signals leads to strong statistical deviations of local peak power from an average signal power level. We consider long-haul optical communication systems from this unusual angle, treating them as physical systems with a huge number of random statistical events, including extreme value fluctuations that potentially might affect the quality of data transmission. We apply the well-established concepts of adaptive wavefront shaping used in imaging through turbid medium to detect the detrimental phase modulated sequences in optical communications that can cause extreme power outages (rare optical waves of ultra-high amplitude) during propagation down the ultra-long fiber line. We illustrate the concept by a theoretical analysis of rare events of high-intensity fluctuations—optical freak waves, taking as an example an increasingly popular optical frequency division multiplexing data format where the problem of high peak to average power ratio is the most acute. We also show how such short living extreme value spikes in the optical data streams are affected by nonlinearity and demonstrate the negative impact of such events on the system performance.

Health survey of U.S. long-haul truck drivers: work environment, physical health, and healthcare access.

Science.gov (United States)

Apostolopoulos, Yorghos; Sönmez, Sevil; Shattell, Mona M; Gonzales, Clifford; Fehrenbacher, Caitlin

2013-01-01

While trucking in industrialized nations is linked with driver health afflictions, the role of trucking in U.S. truckers' health remains largely unknown. This paper sheds light on links between the trucking work environment and drivers' physical health. Using a cross-sectional design, 316 truckers were enrolled in the Healthy Trucker Survey. Questions included work history, physical and mental health, and healthcare access. PASW 18 was used to examine patterns among factors. 316 truckers participated. Respondents were mainly full-time, long-haul drivers with over 5 years of experience, and who spent over 17 days on the road per month. While almost 75% described their health as good, 83.4% were overweight/obese, 57.9% had sleeping disturbances, 56.3% fatigue, 42.3% musculoskeletal disorders, and about 40% cardiovascular disease concerns. About 33% had no health insurance, 70% had no regular healthcare visits, 24.4% could not afford insurance, and 42.1% took over-the-counter drugs when sick, while 20.1% waited to reach home for medical care. Exercise facilities were unavailable in over 70% of trucking worksites and 70% of drivers did not exercise regularly. The trucking occupation places drivers at high risk for poor health outcomes. Prospective studies are needed to delve into how continued exposure to trucking influences the progression of disease burden.

Economic Impact Analysis of Short Line Railroads : Research Project Capsule

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-01

Rail transportation is of vital : importance to the state of : Louisiana and is a key : component of the states : business infrastructure, supporting agricultural, petroleum, chemical, and manufacturing : industries across the state. Short line (C...

The role of epidemiology in determining if a simple short fall can cause fatal head injury in an infant: a subject review and reflection.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehsani, Johnathon P; Ibrahim, Joseph E; Bugeja, Lyndal; Cordner, Stephen

2010-09-01

This article is a subject review summarizing and interpreting the existing knowledge on the question "Can a simple short fall cause fatal head injury in an infant?" It also reflects on the challenges of undertaking a review in the contentious area of pediatric forensic pathology. The authors identified and considered 1055 publications for inclusion. Using explicit selection criteria 27 publications were included in the subject review. The literature suggests that it is rare, but possible, for fatal head injury to occur from a simple short fall. Large population studies of childhood injuries indicate that severe head injury from a short fall is extremely rare. This is counter pointed by a single documented case report that demonstrates it can happen. The question of whether it is a credible claim in a particular case is inextricable from the circumstances of that case.To strengthen the evidence based on fatal potential of simple short falls in infants, future studies addressing this question would ideally be prospective in design and include the key elements of: (1) a large sample size, (2) clearly defined comparison groups, (3) clear and verifiable criteria for causation, (4) specified fall height, (5) specified fall type: vertical free fall or the presence of additional forces, (6) composition of contact surface, and (7) nature of contact point: concentrated to one point or onto a flat surface.We believe subject reviews for forensic pathology require a specific approach because the application of information differs between clinical and courtroom settings.

Short-pulse laser interactions with disordered materials and liquids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phinney, L.M.; Goldman, C.H.; Longtin, J.P.; Tien, C.L. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

1995-12-31

High-power, short-pulse lasers in the picosecond and subpicosecond range are utilized in an increasing number of technologies, including materials processing and diagnostics, micro-electronics and devices, and medicine. In these applications, the short-pulse radiation interacts with a wide range of media encompassing disordered materials and liquids. Examples of disordered materials include porous media, polymers, organic tissues, and amorphous forms of silicon, silicon nitride, and silicon dioxide. In order to accurately model, efficiently control, and optimize short-pulse, laser-material interactions, a thorough understanding of the energy transport mechanisms is necessary. Thus, fractals and percolation theory are used to analyze the anomalous diffusion regime in random media. In liquids, the thermal aspects of saturable and multiphoton absorption are examined. Finally, a novel application of short-pulse laser radiation to reduce surface adhesion forces in microstructures through short-pulse laser-induced water desorption is presented.

Zero emissions trucks. An overview of state-of-the-art technologies and their potential

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Den Boer, E.; Aarnink, S. [CE Delft, Delft (Netherlands); Kleiner, F.; Pagenkopf, J. [German Aerospace Center DLR, Cologne (Germany)

2013-07-15

The study by CE Delft and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), commissioned by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), surveys the technology potential for zero-emission road freight transport in the EU. For short distance transport, battery electric technology is feasible, as distribution trucks have lower range requirements and recharging can occur at scheduled downtimes (e.g. overnight). For long haul applications, battery electric vehicles coupled with overhead wires (catenary) or in-road charging (dynamic) infrastructure are possible, as well as fuel cell drivelines. The cost differential between conventional and zero emission HDVs will diminish over the next 10-15 years, as fuel savings offset other costs. If zero-emission technologies are introduced on a large scale in the onroad freight transport sector beginning in 2020, the total end-user costs will not significantly increase. The total cost of ownership within this study do not consider required infrastructure investments. All zero emission technologies require major infrastructure investments, whether hydrogen refuelling stations, in-road inductive charging, or other systems. Broad policy support is needed to encourage the development and evaluation of various technology options. Over time, the policy focus must shift from stimulating innovation and technology adoption to regulation, if it is to spur a successful transformation of the truck market.

Large neighborhood search for the double traveling salesman problem with multiple stacks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bent, Russell W [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Van Hentenryck, Pascal [BROWN UNIV

2009-01-01

This paper considers a complex real-life short-haul/long haul pickup and delivery application. The problem can be modeled as double traveling salesman problem (TSP) in which the pickups and the deliveries happen in the first and second TSPs respectively. Moreover, the application features multiple stacks in which the items must be stored and the pickups and deliveries must take place in reserve (LIFO) order for each stack. The goal is to minimize the total travel time satisfying these constraints. This paper presents a large neighborhood search (LNS) algorithm which improves the best-known results on 65% of the available instances and is always within 2% of the best-known solutions.

Short-term landfill methane emissions dependency on wind.

Science.gov (United States)

Delkash, Madjid; Zhou, Bowen; Han, Byunghyun; Chow, Fotini K; Rella, Chris W; Imhoff, Paul T

2016-09-01

Short-term (2-10h) variations of whole-landfill methane emissions have been observed in recent field studies using the tracer dilution method for emissions measurement. To investigate the cause of these variations, the tracer dilution method is applied using 1-min emissions measurements at Sandtown Landfill (Delaware, USA) for a 2-h measurement period. An atmospheric dispersion model is developed for this field test site, which is the first application of such modeling to evaluate atmospheric effects on gas plume transport from landfills. The model is used to examine three possible causes of observed temporal emissions variability: temporal variability of surface wind speed affecting whole landfill emissions, spatial variability of emissions due to local wind speed variations, and misaligned tracer gas release and methane emissions locations. At this site, atmospheric modeling indicates that variation in tracer dilution method emissions measurements may be caused by whole-landfill emissions variation with wind speed. Field data collected over the time period of the atmospheric model simulations corroborate this result: methane emissions are correlated with wind speed on the landfill surface with R(2)=0.51 for data 2.5m above ground, or R(2)=0.55 using data 85m above ground, with emissions increasing by up to a factor of 2 for an approximately 30% increase in wind speed. Although the atmospheric modeling and field test are conducted at a single landfill, the results suggest that wind-induced emissions may affect tracer dilution method emissions measurements at other landfills. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public-Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Figueroa, Maria Josefina; Greve, Carsten

The provision of transport infrastructure and services creates fundamental value to society. With traditional sources of transport public funding running short, governments around the world are increasingly turning to public-private finance (PPPs) as a promising tool of public infrastructure...... of the public but of the private actor as well, to act perhaps motivated by corporate social responsibility, committing to bringing innovation and transparency in their efforts for advancing sustainability....

Aggregation, Heterogeneous Autoregression and Volatility of Daily International Tourist Arrivals and Exchange Rates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael)

2010-01-01

textabstractTourism is a major source of service receipts for many countries, including Taiwan. The two leading tourism countries for Taiwan, comprising a high proportion of world tourist arrivals to Taiwan, are Japan and USA, which are sources of short and long haul tourism, respectively. As it is

Systems and technologies for high-speed inter-office/datacenter interface

Science.gov (United States)

Sone, Y.; Nishizawa, H.; Yamamoto, S.; Fukutoku, M.; Yoshimatsu, T.

2017-01-01

Emerging requirements for inter-office/inter-datacenter short reach links for data center interconnects (DCI) and metro transport networks have led to various inter-office and inter-datacenter optical interface technologies. These technologies are bringing significant changes to systems and network architectures. In this paper, we present a system and ZR optical interface technologies for DCI and metro transport networks, then introduce the latest challenges facing the system framework. There are two trends in reach extension; one is to use Ethernet and the other is to use digital coherent technologies. The first approach achieves reach extension while using as many existing Ethernet components as possible. It offers low costs as reuses the cost-effective components created for the large Ethernet market. The second approach adopts low-cost and low power coherent DSPs that implement the minimal set long haul transmission functions. This paper introduces an architecture that integrates both trends. The architecture satisfies both datacom and telecom needs with a common control and management interface and automated configuration.

Short beak and dwarfism syndrome of mule duck is caused by a distinct lineage of goose parvovirus.

Science.gov (United States)

Palya, Vilmos; Zolnai, Anna; Benyeda, Zsófia; Kovács, Edit; Kardi, Veronika; Mató, Tamás

2009-04-01

From the early 1970s to the present, numerous cases of short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS) have been reported in mule ducks from France. The animals showed strong growth retardation with smaller beak and tarsus. It was suggested that the syndrome was caused by goose parvovirus on the basis of serological investigation, but the causative agent has not been isolated and the disease has not so far been reproduced by experimental infection. The aim of the present study was to characterize the virus strains isolated from field cases of SBDS, and to reproduce the disease experimentally. Phylogenetic analysis proved that the parvovirus isolates obtained from SBDS of mule duck belonged to a distinct lineage of goose parvovirus-related group of waterfowl parvoviruses. The authors carried out experimental infections of 1-day-old, 2-week-old and 3-week-old mule ducks by the oral route with three different parvovirus strains: strain D17/99 of goose parvovirus from Derzsy's disease, strain FM of Muscovy duck parvovirus from the parvovirus disease of Muscovy ducks, and strain D176/02 isolated from SBDS of mule duck. The symptoms of SBDS of the mule duck could only be reproduced with the mule duck isolate (strain D176/02) following 1-day-old inoculation. Infection with a genetically different strain of goose parvovirus isolated from classical Derzsy's disease (D17/99) or with the Muscovy duck parvovirus strain (FM) did not cause any clinical symptoms or pathological lesions in mule ducks.

Genome response to ionizing radiation exposure in a sample of long haul pilots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Stefano, G.F.; Fuciarelli, M.; Piacentini, S.; Romano, E.

2008-01-01

Full text: In 1990 ICPR accepted definitively that on average flying-crew personnel and pilots are exposed per year, for professional reasons, to ionizing radiation doses 5 to 10 times over that of people at ground level. Although these values are below the level stated by the ICPR as upper risk limit (20 mSv/y), because a number of epidemiological studies evidenced an increase of some specific tumors (among them: melanomas, breast cancer and leukemia) among pilots of different national companies, suspect arises on that these pathologies were a consequence of the over-amount of radiation absorbed for professional reasons. In order to give an answer to this question several studies have been developed in the last two decades, using the analysis of the frequency distribution of the chromosomal aberrations (mainly: dicentric and ring chromosomes and chromatic aberrations) as the most sensitive method to detect the long tern radio-biological damage (bio-dosimetric method). As the result reported in the previous literature are contradictory and thus largely questionable, a new study was performed taking into account some limits of the previous researches and treating to overcome the consequent criticisms. This paper is devoted to report the results obtained in such a study and refers on the cytogenetic and molecular analyses performed in our laboratories on a sample of 32 pilots employed in the national civil airline on long haul routes from at least 7 years. For comparison, a sample of 29 healthy males' donors of comparable age has been taken into account. New evidences on the increase of chromosomal translocations are presented and widely discussed. Furthermore, results obtained in an unusual attempt to study the association between the frequency and the 'category' of the chromosomal aberrations and the presence or absence of specific polymorphisms of genes encoding for some detoxifying enzymes (GSTs family) are also presented and discussed. (author)

Identification and root cause analysis of cell culture media precipitates in the viral deactivation treatment with high-temperature/short-time method.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Xiaolin; Stimpfl, Gregory; Wen, Zai-Qing; Frank, Gregory; Hunter, Glenn

2013-01-01

High-temperature/short-time (HTST) treatment of cell culture media is one of the proven techniques used in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry for the prevention and mitigation of media viral contamination. With the HTST method, the formulated media is pasteurized (virus-deactivated) by heating and pumping the media continuously through the preset high-temperature holding tubes to achieve a specified period of time at a specific temperature. Recently, during the evaluation and implementation of HTST method in multiple Amgen, Inc. manufacturing facilities, media precipitates were observed in the tests of HTST treatments. The media precipitates may have adverse consequences such as clogging the HTST system, altering operating conditions and compromising the efficacy of viral deactivation, and ultimately affecting the media composition and cell growth. In this study, we report the identification of the composition of media precipitates from multiple media HTST runs using combined microspectroscopic methods including Raman, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The major composition in the precipitates was determined to be metal phosphates, including calcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, and iron (III) phosphate. Based on the composition, stoichiometry, and root-cause study of media precipitations, methods were implemented for the mitigation and prevention of the occurrence of the media precipitation. Viral contamination in cell culture media is an important issue in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry and may have serious consequences on product quality, efficacy, and safety. High-temperature/short-time (HTST) treatment of cell culture media is one of the proven techniques used in the industry for the prevention and mitigation of media viral contamination. With the HTST method, the formulated media is pasteurized (virus-deactivated) by heating at preset conditions. This

The genetics of axonal transport and axonal transport disorders.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason E Duncan

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Neurons are specialized cells with a complex architecture that includes elaborate dendritic branches and a long, narrow axon that extends from the cell body to the synaptic terminal. The organized transport of essential biological materials throughout the neuron is required to support its growth, function, and viability. In this review, we focus on insights that have emerged from the genetic analysis of long-distance axonal transport between the cell body and the synaptic terminal. We also discuss recent genetic evidence that supports the hypothesis that disruptions in axonal transport may cause or dramatically contribute to neurodegenerative diseases.

Pullman transportation plan : a transportation and access plan for Pullman National Monument and the surrounding neighborhood

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

The Pullman Transportation Plan provides a holistic set of recommendations to improve access to and from Pullman National Monument and its surrounding neighborhoods for both visitors and residents. In this plan, we identify short-, medium-, and long-...

Helium transport in TFTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strachan, J.D.; Chan, A.

1986-09-01

Initial measurements of the 15 MeV protons produced in TFTR by the d( 3 He, p)α fusion reaction have been used to determine the time evolution of the central 3 He density. The signals following short 3 He gas puffs indicate inward transport times of about 100 msec

Transport parameters for the modelling of water transport in ionomer membranes for PEM-fuel cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meier, Frank; Eigenberger, Gerhart

2004-01-01

The water transport number (drag coefficient) and the hydraulic permeability were measured for Nafion. The results show a significant increase of both parameters with increasing water content indicating that they are strongly influenced by the membrane microstructure. Based on these experimental studies a new model approach to describe water transport in the H 2 -PEFC membrane is presented. This approach considers water transport by electro-osmosis caused by the proton flux through the membrane and by osmosis caused by a gradient in the chemical potential of water. It is parametrized by the measured data for the water transport number and the hydraulic permeability of Nafion. First simulation results applying this approach to a one-dimensional model of the H 2 -PEFC show good agreement with experimental data. Therefore, the developed model can be used for a new insight into the dominating mechanisms of water transport in the membrane

Costs and benefits of employment transportation for low-wage workers: an assessment of job access public transportation services.

Science.gov (United States)

Thakuriah Vonu, Piyushimita; Persky, Joseph; Soot, Siim; Sriraj, P S

2013-04-01

This paper focuses on an evaluation of public transportation-based employment transportation (ET) services to transport low-wage workers to jobs in the US. We make an attempt to capture a more comprehensive range of intended and unintended outcomes of ET services than those traditionally considered in the case of public transportation services. Using primary data from 23 locations across the country, we present a framework to evaluate how transportation improvements, in interaction with labor markets, can affect users' short-run economic welfare, users' long-run human capital accumulation and non-users' short-run economic welfare. These services were partially funded by a specialized program - the Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program - which was consolidated into larger transit funding programs by recent legislation. In the sites examined, we found that low wage users benefited from self-reported increased access to jobs, improvements in earnings potential, as well as from savings in transport cost and time. Simulations show the potential of users to accrue long-term worklife benefits. At the same time, users may have accrued changes in leisure time as a result of transitioning from unemployment to employment, and generated a range of societal impacts on three classes of non-users: the general tax-paying public, the general commuting public in the service operating area and other low-wage workers in local labor markets. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Causes and effects of Romania deepening financial crisis. Short term means

OpenAIRE

Tudor Florin

2011-01-01

Deepening and expanding financial crisis triggered in October 2008 in the U.S. and other countries is the event that has caused the utmost concern of the policy makers in the economy and society. Forecasts for Romania show a slowdown in economy. As the current global status indicates the likelihood of a major global economic crisis, we attempt through this study to identify the real causes of this deepening crisis in Romania. As well as public policy priorities to counteract the effects of th...

An approach for economic analysis of intermodal transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahin, Bahri; Yilmaz, Huseyin; Ust, Yasin; Guneri, Ali Fuat; Gulsun, Bahadir; Turan, Eda

2014-01-01

A different intermodal transportation model based on cost analysis considering technical, economical, and operational parameters is presented. The model consists of such intermodal modes as sea-road, sea-railway, road-railway, and multimode of sea-road-railway. A case study of cargo transportation has been carried out by using the suggested model. Then, the single road transportation mode has been compared to intermodal modes in terms of transportation costs. This comparison takes into account the external costs of intermodal transportation. The research reveals that, in the short distance transportation, single transportation modes always tend to be advantageous. As the transportation distance gets longer, intermodal transportation advantages begin to be effective on the costs. In addition, the proposed method in this study leads to determining the fleet size and capacity for transportation and the appropriate transportation mode.

An Approach for Economic Analysis of Intermodal Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Sahin, Bahri; Ust, Yasin; Guneri, Ali Fuat; Gulsun, Bahadir; Turan, Eda

2014-01-01

A different intermodal transportation model based on cost analysis considering technical, economical, and operational parameters is presented. The model consists of such intermodal modes as sea-road, sea-railway, road-railway, and multimode of sea-road-railway. A case study of cargo transportation has been carried out by using the suggested model. Then, the single road transportation mode has been compared to intermodal modes in terms of transportation costs. This comparison takes into account the external costs of intermodal transportation. The research reveals that, in the short distance transportation, single transportation modes always tend to be advantageous. As the transportation distance gets longer, intermodal transportation advantages begin to be effective on the costs. In addition, the proposed method in this study leads to determining the fleet size and capacity for transportation and the appropriate transportation mode. PMID:25152919

Journal of Air Transportation, Volume 12, No. 2 (ATRS Special Edition)

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Brent D. (Editor); Kabashkin, Igor (Editor); Fink, Mary (Editor)

2007-01-01

Topics covered include: Competition and Change in the Long-Haul Markets from Europe; Insights into the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul Configurations of European Airlines; Validation of Fault Tree Analysis in Aviation Safety Management; An Investigation into Airline Service Quality Performance between U.S. Legacy Carriers and Their EU Competitors and Partners; and Climate Impact of Aircraft Technology and Design Changes.

Physiological effects of short acute UVB treatments in Chenopodium quinoa Willd.

Science.gov (United States)

Huarancca Reyes, Thais; Scartazza, Andrea; Castagna, Antonella; Cosio, Eric G; Ranieri, Annamaria; Guglielminetti, Lorenzo

2018-01-10

Increased ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation due to global change can affect plant growth and metabolism. Here, we evaluated the capacity of quinoa to resist under short acute UVB irradiation. Quinoa was daily exposed for 30 or 60 min to 1.69 W m -2 UVB. The results showed that 30 min exposure in 9 d-course did not cause severe alterations on photosynthetic pigments and flavonoids, but a significant increase of antioxidant capacity was observed. Otherwise, 60 min UVB in 5 d-course reduced almost all these parameters except for an increase in the de-epoxidation of xanthophyll cycle pigments and led to the death of the plants. Further studies of gas exchange and fluorescence measurements showed that 30 min UVB dramatically decrease stomatal conductance, probably associated to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport was also observed, which could be a response to reduce ROS. Otherwise, irreversible damage to the photosynthetic apparatus was found with 60 min UVB probably due to severe ROS overproduction that decompensates the redox balance inducing UVB non-specific signaling. Moreover, 60 min UVB compromised Rubisco carboxylase activity and photosynthetic electron transport. Overall, these data suggest that quinoa modulates different response mechanisms depending on the UVB irradiation dosage.

Amorphous photonic crystals with only short-range order.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Lei; Zhang, Yafeng; Dong, Biqin; Zhan, Tianrong; Liu, Xiaohan; Zi, Jian

2013-10-04

Distinct from conventional photonic crystals with both short- and long-range order, amorphous photonic crystals that possess only short-range order show interesting optical responses owing to their unique structural features. Amorphous photonic crystals exhibit unique light scattering and transport, which lead to a variety of interesting phenomena such as isotropic photonic bandgaps or pseudogaps, noniridescent structural colors, and light localization. Recent experimental and theoretical advances in the study of amorphous photonic crystals are summarized, focusing on their unique optical properties, artificial fabrication, bionspiration, and potential applications. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Short Term Patterns of Landslides Causing Death in Latin America and the Caribbean

Science.gov (United States)

Sepulveda, S. A.; Petley, D. N.

2015-12-01

Among natural hazards, landslides represent a significant source of loss of life in mountainous terrains. Many regions of Latin America and the Caribbean are prone to landslide activity, due to strong topographic relief, high tectonic uplift rates, seismicity and/or climate. Further, vulnerable populations are often concentrated in deep valleys or mountain foothills susceptible to catastrophic landslides, with vulnerability further increased by dense urbanization and precarious settlements in some large cities. While historic extremely catastrophic events such as the 1999 Vargas flows in Venezuela or the 1970 Huascaran rock avalanche in Peru are commonly cited to characterize landslide hazards in this region, less known is the landslide activity in periods without such large disasters. This study assesses the occurrence of fatal landslides in Latin America and the Caribbean between 2004 and 2013. Over this time period we recorded 611 landslides that caused 11,631 deaths in 25 countries, mostly as a result of rainfall triggers. The countries with the highest number of fatal landslides are Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Haiti. The highest death toll for a single event was ca.3000. The dataset has not captured a strong El Niño event or large earthquakes in landslide prone areas, thus the analysis is indicative of short term rather than long term spatial and temporal patterns. Results show that at continental scale, the spatial distribution of landslides in the 2004-2013 period correlates well with relief, precipitation and population density, while the temporal distribution reflects the regional annual rainfall patterns. In urban areas, the presence of informal settlements has a big impact on the number of fatalities, while at national level weaker correlations with gross income, human development and corruption indices can be found. This work was funded by the Durham International Fellowships for Research and Enterprise and Fondecyt project 1140317.

Cervical artery dissection following a turbulent flight.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Quinn, Colin

2012-01-31

BACKGROUND: Cervical artery dissection is a common cause of stroke in young patients without vascular risk factors and may affect the carotid or vertebral arteries. The risk of spontaneous dissection is higher in those with genetic predisposing factors while other cases may be precipitated by an event involving head or neck movement or associated with direct neck trauma. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a previously well young woman with a history of migraine who developed internal carotid artery dissection following a turbulent short-haul commercial flight while restrained using a seatbelt. DISCUSSION: We propose that repetitive flexion-hyperextension neck movements encountered during the flight were the most likely precipitant of carotid artery dissection in this case and review the therapeutic options available.

Short pulse laser systems for biomedical applications

CERN Document Server

Mitra, Kunal

2017-01-01

This book presents practical information on the clinical applications of short pulse laser systems and the techniques for optimizing these applications in a manner that will be relevant to a broad audience, including engineering and medical students as well as researchers, clinicians, and technicians. Short pulse laser systems are useful for both subsurface tissue imaging and laser induced thermal therapy (LITT), which hold great promise in cancer diagnostics and treatment. Such laser systems may be used alone or in combination with optically active nanoparticles specifically administered to the tissues of interest for enhanced contrast in imaging and precise heating during LITT. Mathematical and computational models of short pulse laser-tissue interactions that consider the transient radiative transport equation coupled with a bio-heat equation considering the initial transients of laser heating were developed to analyze the laser-tissue interaction during imaging and therapy. Experiments were first performe...

A Rare Cause of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension Resistant to Therapy in The Newborn: Short-Rib Polydactyly Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nihat Demir

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Short-rib polydactyly syndrome is an autosomal recessively inherited lethal skeletal dysplasia. The syndrome is characterized by marked narrow fetal thorax, short extremities, micromelia, cleft palate/lip, polydactyly, cardiac and renal abnormalities, and genital malformations. In cases with pulmonary hypoplasia, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn can develop. In this paper, we present a term newborn with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, which has developed secondary to short-rib polydactyly syndrome and was resistant to therapy with inhaled nitric oxide and oral sildenafil.

Novel Roles for the Insulin-Regulated Glucose Transporter-4 in Hippocampally Dependent Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson-Leary, Jiah; McNay, Ewan C

2016-11-23

The insulin-regulated glucose transporter-4 (GluT4) is critical for insulin- and contractile-mediated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. GluT4 is also expressed in some hippocampal neurons, but its functional role in the brain is unclear. Several established molecular modulators of memory processing regulate hippocampal GluT4 trafficking and hippocampal memory formation is limited by both glucose metabolism and insulin signaling. Therefore, we hypothesized that hippocampal GluT4 might be involved in memory processes. Here, we show that, in male rats, hippocampal GluT4 translocates to the plasma membrane after memory training and that acute, selective intrahippocampal inhibition of GluT4-mediated glucose transport impaired memory acquisition, but not memory retrieval. Other studies have shown that prolonged systemic GluT4 blockade causes insulin resistance. Unexpectedly, we found that prolonged hippocampal blockade of glucose transport through GluT4-upregulated markers of hippocampal insulin signaling prevented task-associated depletion of hippocampal glucose and enhanced both working and short-term memory while also impairing long-term memory. These effects were accompanied by increased expression of hippocampal AMPA GluR1 subunits and the neuronal GluT3, but decreased expression of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor, consistent with impaired ability to form long-term memories. Our findings are the first to show the cognitive impact of brain GluT4 modulation. They identify GluT4 as a key regulator of hippocampal memory processing and also suggest differential regulation of GluT4 in the hippocampus from that in peripheral tissues. The role of insulin-regulated glucose transporter-4 (GluT4) in the brain is unclear. In the current study, we demonstrate that GluT4 is a critical component of hippocampal memory processes. Memory training increased hippocampal GluT4 translocation and memory acquisition was impaired by GluT4 blockade. Unexpectedly, whereas long

Climate change and the long-term viability of the World's busiest heavy haul ice road

Science.gov (United States)

Mullan, Donal; Swindles, Graeme; Patterson, Tim; Galloway, Jennifer; Macumber, Andrew; Falck, Hendrik; Crossley, Laura; Chen, Jie; Pisaric, Michael

2017-08-01

Climate models project that the northern high latitudes will warm at a rate in excess of the global mean. This will pose severe problems for Arctic and sub-Arctic infrastructure dependent on maintaining low temperatures for structural integrity. This is the case for the economically important Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road (TCWR)—the world's busiest heavy haul ice road, spanning 400 km across mostly frozen lakes within the Northwest Territories of Canada. In this study, future climate scenarios are developed for the region using statistical downscaling methods. In addition, changes in lake ice thickness are projected based on historical relationships between measured ice thickness and air temperatures. These projections are used to infer the theoretical operational dates of the TCWR based on weight limits for trucks on the ice. Results across three climate models driven by four RCPs reveal a considerable warming trend over the coming decades. Projected changes in ice thickness reveal a trend towards thinner lake ice and a reduced time window when lake ice is at sufficient thickness to support trucks on the ice road, driven by increasing future temperatures. Given the uncertainties inherent in climate modelling and the resultant projections, caution should be exercised in interpreting the magnitude of these scenarios. More certain is the direction of change, with a clear trend towards winter warming that will reduce the operation time window of the TCWR. This illustrates the need for planners and policymakers to consider future changes in climate when planning annual haulage along the TCWR.

Climate Change and Transportation

OpenAIRE

Yevdokimov, Yuri

2010-01-01

As stated at the beginning of this chapter, the relationship between transportation and climate is two-directional. Based on our statistical analysis performed for Canada, we can make some general conclusions about this relationship. On the one hand, transportation is one of the largest contributors to GHG emissions which, in turn, cause various changes in climate. On the other hand, these climate changes negatively affect transportation in terms of its infrastructure and operations. Therefor...

Genomic and pathogenic analysis of a Muscovy duck parvovirus strain causing short beak and dwarfism syndrome without tongue protrusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Qiuling; Huang, Yu; Wan, Chunhe; Fu, Guanghua; Qi, Baomin; Cheng, Longfei; Shi, Shaohua; Chen, Hongmei; Liu, Rongchang; Chen, Zhenhai

2017-12-01

In 2008, clinical cases of short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS) caused by Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV) infection were found in mule duck and Taiwan white duck farms in Fujian, China. A MDPV LH strain causing duck SBDS without tongue protrusion was isolated in this study. Phylogenetic analysis show that the MDPV LH strain was clustered together with other MDPV strains, but divergent from GPV isolates. Two major fragment deletions were found in the inverted terminal repeats (ITR) of MDPV LH similar to the ones in the ITR of MDPV GX5, YY and SAAS-SHNH strains. To investigate the pathogenicity of the MDPV LH strain, virus infection of young mule ducks was performed. The infected ducks showed SBDS symptoms including retard growth and shorten beaks without tongue protrusion. Atrophy of thymus, spleen and bursa of Fabricius was identified in the infected ducks. The results show that MDPV LH strain is moderately pathogenic to mule duck, leading to occurrence of SBDS. As far as we know, it is the first study showing that SBDS without tongue protrusion, and atrophy of thymus, spleen and bursa of Fabricius possibly associated with immunosuppression were found in the MDPV-infected ducks. The established duck-MDPV-SBDS system will help us to further work on the virus pathogenesis and develop efficacious vaccine against MDPV infection. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Looking on the bright side of serotonin transporter gene variation.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Homberg, J.R.; Lesch, K.P.

2011-01-01

Converging evidence indicates an association of the short (s), low-expressing variant of the repeat length polymorphism, serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), in the human serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT, SERT, SLC6A4) with anxiety-related traits and increased risk for

Transportation and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Litman, Todd

2013-01-01

This article investigates various ways that transportation policy and planning decisions affect public health and better ways to incorporate public health objectives into transport planning. Conventional planning tends to consider some public health impacts, such as crash risk and pollution emissions measured per vehicle-kilometer, but generally ignores health problems resulting from less active transport (reduced walking and cycling activity) and the additional crashes and pollution caused by increased vehicle mileage. As a result, transport agencies tend to undervalue strategies that increase transport system diversity and reduce vehicle travel. This article identifies various win-win strategies that can help improve public health and other planning objectives.

Sulfate transport in toad skin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Erik Hviid; Simonsen, K

1988-01-01

1. In short-circuited toad skin preparations exposed bilaterally to NaCl-Ringer's containing 1 mM SO2(-4), influx of sulfate was larger than efflux showing that the skin is capable of transporting sulfate actively in an inward direction. 2. This active transport was not abolished by substituting...... apical Na+ for K+. 3. Following voltage activation of the passive Cl- permeability of the mitochondria-rich (m.r.) cells sulfate flux-ratio increased to a value predicted from the Ussing flux-ratio equation for a monovalent anion. 4. In such skins, which were shown to exhibit vanishingly small leakage...... conductances, the variation of the rate coefficient for sulfate influx (y) was positively correlated with the rate coefficient for Cl- influx (x), y = 0.035 x - 0.0077 cm/sec (r = 0.9935, n = 15). 5. Addition of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor, 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine to the serosal bath of short...

Cancer-causing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ullrich, R.L.; Holland, J.M.; Storer, J.B.

1977-01-01

Radiation causes cancer. That simple fact was known by the early 1900s. Further, radiation can induce cancer in almost any tissue in animals and humans. But the cancer-causing dose may vary by 20-fold for different tissues in animals. Such variation is also seen in people who are exposed, typically, to low radiation doses. Hence, the minimum dose that causes human cancer is not known. Thus, the crucial question becomes what factors, including amount of exposure, trigger cancer. Radiation is divided into two types, ionizing and nonionizing. Of the two, ionizing radiation involves higher energies. Thus by ejecting electrons from molecules, charged particles called ion pairs are formed. They are short-lived, and often break down to form highly reactive free radicals, which are molecular fragments containing unpaired electrons. Nonionizing radiation, which involves ultraviolet light and micro- and radiowaves, causes molecular excitations such as vibrations and electron movement, but produces no ions. And though ultraviolet light causes skin cancer, ionizing radiation is, by far, the more potent carcinogen

MANAGEMENT OF TOURISM TRANSPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela Cecilia STĂNCIULESCU

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Undoubtedly, the relevance of transport activities in relation to tourism activities is essential, because it is extremely important and necessary to offer feasible information about tourism services to help consumer to choose the mode of travel to destinations ideal holiday. The methods used in the development of this hypothesis were explanation, exemplification (brief presentation of each mode of transport comparison etc. Analyzing the current situation of national, European and World Wide tourism transportation, the paper proposes practical applications able to explain that the conduct of economic activities as an integral part of the sector of trade and services within a national economy, would not be possible without the involvement of transport, whether by road, rail and air and naval. The results of the analysis are perfectly applicable offering guests the opportunity to reach the most remote corners of the world in a short time, high degree of comfort and affordable price.

Understanding transportation-caused rangeland damage in Mongolia.

Science.gov (United States)

Keshkamat, S S; Tsendbazar, N E; Zuidgeest, M H P; Shiirev-Adiya, S; van der Veen, A; van Maarseveen, M F A M

2013-01-15

Mongolia, a vast and sparsely populated semi-arid country, has very little formal road infrastructure. Since the 1990s, private ownership and usage of vehicles has been increasing, which has created a web of dirt track corridors due to the communal land tenure and unobstructed terrain, with some of these corridors reaching over 4 km in width. This practice aids wind- and water-aided erosion and desertification, causing enormous negative environmental effects. Little is being done to counter the phenomenon, mainly because the logic of the driving behaviour that causes this dirt road widening is not fully understood. The research in this article postulates that this driving behaviour has rational foundations and is linked to various geographical factors (natural and man-made geographical features). We analysed 11,000 km of arterial routes in the country using spatial statistics and determined that geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis offers a good explanation for whether, and by how much, the selected geographical factors affect the creation of corridor widths and how their effect varies across the landscape. We determined that corridor widths are correlated to factors such as proximity to river crossings, traffic intensity, and vegetation abundance. Knowing these factors can help local planners and engineers design counter-measures that could help to control and reduce the widths of these corridors, until paved roads can replace the dirt track corridors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of long-haul transmeridian travel on player preparedness: Case study of a national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Peter M; McCall, Alan; Jones, Mark; Duffield, Rob

2017-04-01

Describe the effects of eastward long-haul transmeridian air travel on subjective jet-lag, sleep and wellness in professional football (soccer) players prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Single cohort involving twenty-two male professional football players representing a national football team. Data was collected from players prior to and following international travel from Sydney, Australia to Vitoria, Brazil. In total there were three flights, 19-h and 14,695km of travel east across 11 time-zones. Training load and wellness measures were obtained in the week prior to and following travel, whilst sleep and jet-lag measures were collected on the day prior to travel (Pre), the day of arrival and for five days following travel (Post 1-5). Compared to Pre, perceived jet-lag was significantly increased on Post 1 to 4, with significantly greater levels on Post 1 compared to Post 5 (pplayer wellness. Consequently, player preparedness for subsequent training and competition may be impeded, though physical performance data is lacking. Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Studies of short-lived products of spallation fission reactions at TRIUMF

CERN Document Server

Bischoff, G; D'Auria, J M; Dautet, H; Lee, J K P; Pate, B D; Wiesehahn, W

1976-01-01

The gas-jet recoil transport technique has been used to transport products from spallation and fission reactions from a target chamber to a shielded location for nuclear spectroscopic studies. These involve X- beta - gamma coincidence measurements and (shortly) time- of-flight mass spectroscopy. It has been deduced that the proton beam at present intensities has no appreciable effect on the ability of ethylene and other cluster-producing gases to transport radioactivity. Preliminary results will be presented for shortlived fission products from uranium, and for spallation products of iodine and argon. The latter were obtained from the bombardment of gas and aerosol targets mixed with the transporting gas in the target chamber, which appears to be a generally useful technique.

Factors influencing the transport rate of short-chain alcohols through mesoporous y-alumina membranes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roy Chowdhury, Sankhanilay; Roy Chowdhury, S.; Blank, David H.A.; ten Elshof, Johan E.

2005-01-01

The pressure-driven transport of water, ethanol, and 1-propanol through supported -alumina membranes with different pore diameters is reported. Water and alcohols had similar permeabilities when they were transported through y-alumina membranes with average pore diameters of 4.4 and 6.0 nm, and the

Radioactive waste transportation systems analysis and program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shappert, L.B.; Joy, D.S.; Heiskell, M.M.

1978-03-01

The objective of the Transportation/Logistics Study is to ensure the availability of a viable system for transporting the wastes to a federal repository in 1985. In order to accomplish this objective, a systems analysis of waste transportation has been directed by ORNL to determine the problems that must be solved and to develop a program plan that identifies which problems must first be pursued. To facilitate this overall approach and to provide for short- and long-range waste management, logistics models have been developed to determine the transportation fleet requirements and costs. Results of the study are described in this report

The transportation economy : just in time.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-01

The purpose of this project was to produce a short educational video, targeted at middle school and high school students, illustrating the critical role transportation plays in our modern economy. This report documents the production of a 6.5-minute ...

Weasel works SA-150: Design study of a 100 to 150 passenger transport aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Alkema, Kevin; Comeaux, Michael; Gilbert, Timothy; Para, Victor; Toepfer, George

1993-01-01

As the year 2000 rapidly approaches, the airlines are faced with an extremely competitive and environmentally restrictive marketplace. In order to survive, commercial air carriers will need to find new ways to lower their direct operating costs, increase load factors and comply with tightening federal and international constraints. The SA-150 has been designed to meet these demands by focusing on the areas of aerodynamic efficiency, an improved level of passenger comfort, and a limited application of advanced technology. The SA-150 has been optimized for a 500 nmi. mission to help the airlines meet the challenges of the short haul, quick turnaround flight. With a maximum capacity of 124 passengers, and full baggage, the SA-150 is also capable of covering a range of 1500 nmi. This additional range capability will provide the airlines with flexibility when scheduling their routes. The aircraft features a 'V' tail, fly-by-wire system and is powered by two turbofans mounted under a twelve aspect ratio wing. The SA-150 will have an initial production run of 800 units and have a purchase price of $37.7 million in 1993 dollars.

Syncope in children and adolescents as asudden, transient, short-term and spontaneously reversible loss of consciousness caused by adecrease in cerebral perfusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Nowakowska

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Syncope is a common symptom in adolescents who come to the hospital emergency wards. The most common form of syncope is neurogenic type caused by impaired autoregulation of the circulatory system. This syncope is not generally life-threatening condition in a contrast to the less common but most dangerous cardiogenic type (e.g. cardiac arrhythmias due to Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, long QT time interval, atrioventricular blocks, haemodynamic obstructions in the outflow tract of the left or right ventricle, cardiomyopathy or coronary abnormalities. This paper refers to a new term, i.e. transient loss of consciousness. According to the new definition of syncope from 2009, temporary loss of consciousness has four components: a sudden occurrence, transient nature, short duration, and spontaneous regression. Currently, there are three main types of syncope associated with the cardiovascular system: neurogenic, orthostatic hypotension and a cardiac. The most common form in adolescents are neurogenic fainting which are often preceded by prodromal symptoms, i.e. decrease in blood pressure and heart rate. They can also occur in response to the stress or unusual situations. In the orthostatic syncope the loss of consciousness occurs in a very short time after the upright position and unlike neurogenic form, usually there are no prodromal symptoms, but tachycardia is present. The rarest, but also the most dangerous form of syncope is a cardiogenic type caused by arrhythmias or structural heart disease. This form may be the first sign of serious heart disease or even precede sudden cardiac death.

The Carrier's Liability for Damage Caused by Delay in International Air Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kang Bin

2003-01-01

Delay in the air transport occurs when passengers, baggage or cargo do not arrive at their destination at the time indicated in the contract of carriage. The causes of delay in the carriage of passengers are booking errors or double booking, delayed departure of aircraft, incorrect information regarding the time of departure, failure to land at the scheduled destination and changes in flight schedule or addition of extra landing stops. Delay in the carriage of baggage or cargo may have different causes: no reservation, lack of space, failure to load the baggage or cargo at the right place, or to deliver the covering documents at the right place. The Montreal Convention of 1999 Article 19 provides that 'The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air of passengers, baggage or cargo. Nevertheless, the carder shall not be liable for damage occasioned by delay if it proves that it and its servants and agents took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for it or them to take such measures'. The Montreal Convention Article 22 provides liability limits of the carrier in case of delay for passengers and their baggage and for cargo. In the carriage of persons, the liability of the carrier for each passenger is limited to 4,150 SDR. In the carriage of baggage, the liability of the carrier is limited to 1,000 SDR for each passenger unless a special declaration as to the value of the baggage has been made. In the carriage of cargo, the liability of the carrier is limited to 17 SDR per kilogram unless a special declaration as to the value of the cargo has been made. The Montreal Convention Article 19 has shortcomings: it is silent on the duration of the liability for carriage,andit does not make any distinction between persons and good. It does not give any indication concerning the circumstances to be taken into account in cases of delay, and about the length of delay. In conclusion, it is

Shorts due to diagnostic leads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, J.F.; Lubell, M.S.; Pillsbury, R.D.; Shen, S.S.; Thome, R.J.; Walstrom, P.L.

1985-01-01

The superconducting toroidal field coils that are being tested in the Large Coil Test Facility (LCTF) are heavily instrumented. General Electric coil, a lead wire of an internal sensor became shorted across an estimated three or four turns of the pancake winding. This short occurred during the final stages of the winding fabrication and was not accessible for repair. Resistance, voltage gradient, and transient voltage decay measurements were performed to characterize the short and the magnetic damping of the large steel bobbin and outer structural ring. The 32-gage wire causing the short was estimated to be about 10 cm long, with a resistance of 55 mΩ. As a safety measure, we decided to burn out the shorted wire at room temperature before installing the coil in LCTF. Tests were made to determine the energy needed to vaporize a small wire. Computer calculations indicated that within the voltage limits set for the coil, it was not feasible to burn out the wire by rapidly dumping the coil from a low-current dc charge-up. We accomplished the burnout by applying 800 V at 3.25 A, and 60 Hz for about 1 s. Transient voltage decay measurements made after the burnout and compared with those made before the attempt confirmed that the short had indeed been opened

Giant pubertal prolactinoma: Complete resolution following short ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2016-04-06

Apr 6, 2016 ... disappeared in a short time with cabergoline treatment. Key words: ... Hyperprolactinemia may cause impotence and hypogonadism in adult men, and rarely ... safe treatment method for male patients with giant prolactinoma.

Photoinduced diffusion molecular transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozenbaum, Viktor M., E-mail: vik-roz@mail.ru, E-mail: litrakh@gmail.com [Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Generala Naumova St. 17, Kiev 03164 (Ukraine); Dekhtyar, Marina L. [Institute of Organic Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Murmanskaya St. 5, Kiev 02094 (Ukraine); Lin, Sheng Hsien [Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsuen Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan (China); Trakhtenberg, Leonid I., E-mail: vik-roz@mail.ru, E-mail: litrakh@gmail.com [Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kosygin Street 4, Moscow 119991, Russia and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Institutskii Per. 9, Dolgoprudnyi, Moscow Region 141700 (Russian Federation)

2016-08-14

We consider a Brownian photomotor, namely, the directed motion of a nanoparticle in an asymmetric periodic potential under the action of periodic rectangular resonant laser pulses which cause charge redistribution in the particle. Based on the kinetics for the photoinduced electron redistribution between two or three energy levels of the particle, the time dependence of its potential energy is derived and the average directed velocity is calculated in the high-temperature approximation (when the spatial amplitude of potential energy fluctuations is small relative to the thermal energy). The thus developed theory of photoinduced molecular transport appears applicable not only to conventional dichotomous Brownian motors (with only two possible potential profiles) but also to a much wider variety of molecular nanomachines. The distinction between the realistic time dependence of the potential energy and that for a dichotomous process (a step function) is represented in terms of relaxation times (they can differ on the time intervals of the dichotomous process). As shown, a Brownian photomotor has the maximum average directed velocity at (i) large laser pulse intensities (resulting in short relaxation times on laser-on intervals) and (ii) excited state lifetimes long enough to permit efficient photoexcitation but still much shorter than laser-off intervals. A Brownian photomotor with optimized parameters is exemplified by a cylindrically shaped semiconductor nanocluster which moves directly along a polar substrate due to periodically photoinduced dipole moment (caused by the repetitive excited electron transitions to a non-resonant level of the nanocylinder surface impurity).

The Short Haul Air Travel Market: Evaluation of New Forms of Service

Science.gov (United States)

Couts, D. A.

1972-01-01

Aspects of the demand for air travel and an approach for incorporating them in evaluations of new services are discussed. The approach as described here is being used to evaluate the market for STOL aircraft in the 1980's but it could just as well be used to evaluate the market effects of schedule changes, equipment changes, and new routes, if certain basic data relating these changes to demand are available. A most important change in the market which is likely to take place in the next fifteen years, and which is already underway, is the increasing availability of alternative airports in major cities.

Congenital short bowel syndrome as the presenting symptom in male patients with FLNA mutations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Werf, Christine S.; Sribudiani, Yunia; Verheij, Joke B. G. M.; Carroll, Matthew; O'Loughlin, Edward; Chen, Chien-Huan; Brooks, Alice S.; Liszewski, M. Kathryn; Atkinson, John P.; Hofstra, Robert M. W.

Purpose: Autosomal recessive congenital short bowel syndrome is caused by mutations in CLMP. No mutations were found in the affected males of a family with presumed X-linked congenital short bowel syndrome or in an isolated male patient. Our aim was to identify the disease-causing mutation in these

Department of Transportation -- Exemption for using the Transuranic Package Transporter-I (TRUPACT-I) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Part 107, Subpart B -- Exemptions, 107-103 Application for Exemption)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyacke, M.J.; Macdonald, R.J.

1992-08-01

Exemption from specific regulations is being sought for the Transuranic Package Transporter Model I (TRUPACT-I) container. The design has successfully undergone extensive testing of a quarter-scale model and a full-scale prototype of the container. Results from the analysis and testing are in the TRUPACT-1 Safely Analysis Report for Packaging (SARP), GA-Al8695/SAND 87-7104 (TTC0735), April 1987 (see Attachment 1). The container was never certified or used because of questions raised during the certification process. Two features of the container design failed to satisfy the regulations for Type B packaging. First, the design utilizes a venting system to control internal and external pressures; this venting system is not allowed by the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Parts 71(h) and 71.51(b) [10 CFR 71.(h) and 71.51(b)]. Second, the maximum quantity fissile material proposed to be hauled in TRUPACT-I exceeded the limits in 10 CFR 71.63(b) for a single-containment container. To correct these design deficiencies, the vents would be plugged during transport, and the maximum quantity of fissile material would be limited to the allowables for a single-containment container. An engineering analysis showed that the container could safely transport radioactive material within the boundaries of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) with the vent system plugged (see Attachment 2). However, some of the requirements for determining pressure on a container need to be changed (i.e., exempted) to reflect conditions unique to the INEL. The following are the requirements needing to be changed for INEL conditions, variances being sought, and justifications for the variances

Transportation, Air Pollution, and Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

... Centers Contact Us Share Transportation, Air Pollution, and Climate Change Overview Learn about pollutants from vehicles and engines that cause harmful health effects and climate change. Overview of air pollution from transportation Key issues, ...

75 FR 13441 - Hours of Service; Limited 90-Day Waiver for the Distribution of Anhydrous Ammonia in Agricultural...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-22

..., such as grain hauled from an elevator (or sugar beets from a cold storage facility) to a processing... delivering anhydrous ammonia; (2) none of the transportation movements within the distribution chain exceed a... chain exceed a 100 air-mile radius--whether from the retail or wholesale distribution point; and (3) the...

Pleuroperitoneal Leak: An Unusual Cause of Acute Shortness of Breath in a Peritoneal Dialysis Patient

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. P. Ramaema

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Pleuroperitoneal leak is an uncommon complication of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD, with an estimated incidence of 1.6%. It should be suspected in these patients when they present with recurrent unilateral pleural effusions and/or acute shortness of breath following dialysate infusion. Case Presentation. We present the case of a 25-year-old female patient who had acute hydrothorax as a result of pleuroperitoneal leak complicating continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD, which was confirmed on peritoneal scintigraphy. Conclusion. Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients presenting with acute shortness of breath and/or recurrent unilateral pleural effusion should be investigated with peritoneal scintigraphy to exclude pleuroperitoneal leak.

Are we likely to be short of oil?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alberganti, M.

2012-01-01

The worldwide demand for oil is expected to grow by 14% between 2010 and 2035. In order to meet this demand, new sources of oil have to be tapped: deep sea wells, extra-heavy crude oils, or oil shales. Their production costs will be far higher and the price for the consumer is likely to reach in a short term range the peak price of 2009: 150 dollar a barrel which is a 50% rise in comparison with today's price. The transport sector uses 50% of the oil production. The shortage of oil could be avoided if adequate investments are made and if electric transport develops. (A.C.)

Simulation Studies of Diffusion-Release and Effusive-Flow of Short-Lived Radioactive Isotopes

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Yan; Kawai, Yoko

2005-01-01

Delay times associated with diffusion release from targets and effusive-flow transport of radioactive isotopes to ion sources are principal intensity limiters at ISOL-based radioactive ion beam facilities, and simulation studies with computer models are cost effective methods for designing targets and vapor transport systems with minimum delay times to avoid excessive decay losses of short lived ion species. A finite difference code, Diffuse II, was recently developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to study diffusion-release of short-lived species from three principal target geometries. Simulation results are in close agreement with analytical solutions to Fick’s second equation. Complementary to the development of Diffuse II, the Monte-Carlo code, Effusion, was developed to address issues related to the design of fast vapor transport systems. Results, derived by using Effusion, are also found to closely agree with experimental measurements. In this presentation, the codes will be used in conc...

THE EFFECT OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE ONFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ATTRACTION IN IRAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manijeh Taghilou Barzelaghi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Weak transportation infrastructure in developing countries, e.g. Iran, presents abig obstacle to foreign direct investment attraction. One way of increasing theflow of foreign direct investment into a country is decreasing the production coststhrough expanding facilities as well as employing higher technology level. Thus,transportation cost usually is high in these countries and industries are oftenconcentrated in regions with more improved transportation system. The presentstudy aimed to investigate the effect of transportation infrastructure in Iran onforeign direct investment attraction. Hence, the researchers employed JohansenJuselius econometrics method to quantify the short run and long run effect oftransportation infrastructure, trade intensity, and market size on foreign directinvestment attraction during 1974-2007. The results emerging from the presentstudy indicated that transportationinfrastructure did not affect foreign directinvestment attraction in short run, but in long run, it had positive and significanteffect on foreign direct investment attraction.

Transport Nuclear Liability Insurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Folens, M.

2006-01-01

Although transport of nuclear substances represents only a very small part of the global transport of dangerous goods, it takes place every day all over the world and it is part of our daily life. Transport of nuclear material takes also place at every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle; radioactive materials are carried out all over the world by all major modes of transport: sea, air, road and rail. Despite the large number of nuclear transports, they are not considered as posing a serious risk. A major nuclear incident is almost always associated with the operating of fixed installations such as nuclear power plants; just think about Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. This perception is strengthened by the absence so far of serious accidents in the nuclear transport sector and this finding is in fact proof of the very safe conditions of nuclear transport. But accidents can never be excluded entirely and in some cases damages could be as large as those caused by fixed installations. This means that protection of the interests of possible victims should also be covered in a correct way. That is why the special nuclear liability regime has also been developed to cover damage caused by a nuclear transport accident. As stated by Patrick Reyners, the prime motivation for originally adopting a special nuclear regime was the harmonisation of national legislation and that nowhere more than in the field of international transport operations is such harmonisation felt desirable . The international legal regime has been developed along two tracks, one based on the mode of transport and the other based on the notion of dangerous goods. The linkage between those two tracks is of permanent concern and the mode of transport is the key element to determine which international instrument should be applicable. The purpose of this paper is to briefly introduce the financial security provided by the insurance industry to cover the international nuclear liability regime for nuclear

Vibrational fatigue failures in short cantilevered piping with socket-welding fittings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, J.K.

1996-01-01

Approximately 80% of the vibrational fatigue failures in nuclear power plants have been caused by high cycle vibrational fatigue. Many of these failures have occurred in short, small bore (2 in. nominal diameter and smaller), unbraced, cantilevered piping with socket-welding fittings. The fatigue failures initiated in the socket welds. These failures have been unexpected, and have caused costly, unscheduled outages in some cases. In order to reduce the number of vibrational fatigue failures in these short cantilevered pipes, an acceleration based vibrational fatigue screening criteria was developed under Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) sponsorship. In this paper, the acceleration based criteria will be compared to the results obtained from detailed dynamic modeling of a short, cantilevered pipe