US port throughput of radioactive materials: a twenty-year study

This study documents that more than a half million tons of radioactive and associated materials, including wastes, were handled at US ports between 1965 and 1984. Although some ports were dominant, radioactive traffic flowed through a large number of ports. An analysis of concordance demonstrates agreement in port rankings over the 20-year period. Large, medium and small ports are identified via a cluster analysis.     

Cruise ship market segmentation: a 'non-traditional' port case study

Market segmentation in the cruise ship industry is an essential tool for securing a favourable market share. A case study of a mid-sized vessel operating from a 'non-traditional' port provides insights of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of a cruise population. The questionnaire also supports the logic for a strong local/regional marketing effort and validates the rationale for the provision of a cruise service from a 'non-traditional' port.     

Is DOC the main source of organic matter remineralization in the ocean water column?

Recent interpretations of carbon flux data and deep-sea processes have led to a reconsideration of the role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in supporting water column remineralization and other mid-water biogeochemical transformations (Suzuki et al., 1985; Cho and Azam, 1988; Karl et al., 1988; Christensen et al., 1989; Naqvi and Shailaja, 1993). To date, there have been no direct comparisons of particulate carbon flux data with water column metabolic rates. Here, for the first time, particulate carbon flux and respiratory electron transport activity (from which metabolic CO₂ production is derived), have been monitored simultaneously for one year in the same area of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. In the aphotic layer (200–1000 m), particulate organic carbon (POC) can support only 20% of the overall organic matter remineralization. Remineralization rates are consistent with recent calculations of DOC exported from the euphotic layer in this area, confirming the vital importance of DOC in maintaining deep-water metabolism. This finding would apply to other regions of mesotrophic and oligotrophic production and thus affect our understanding of carbon recycling in the water column, new production and O₂ utilization.     

Transportania as gulliver might have seen it

It is an honour to be asked to speak at this, the Silver Jubilee of the International Symposia in 1984, in the presence of a number who, unlike myself, were present at the first symposium at the General Motors Research Laboratories in 1959 - Gordon Newell, Martin Beckmann and, foremost of all, Robert Herman, whose work is to be recognized next week by the award of an Honorary Degree at the University of Karlsruhe. Because it is such an honour to be asked, I had no hesitation in accepting Professor Volmuller's invitation, several months ago - to address you with a causerie on a subject of my choice.     

Ecology of bottom ice algae: II. Dynamics, distributions and productivity

Spring blooms of bottom ice algae are a common feature of landfast congelation ice in polar regions. Because ice algae are usually associated with a substrate, their population dynamics can be followed with considerable confidence. Although ice algal dynamics are closely related to irradiance, their dynamics and distributions are influenced by other abiotic and biotic factors. Ice algal abundance varies horizontally over all scales examined. Factors such as grazing and nutrient availability may contribute to local and geographic differences. Loss terms for most sea ice assemblages are largely unquantified. Ice algal biomass is most concentrated near the ice-water interface in spring.Environmental factors affecting ice algal abundance and productivity are considered here, emphasizing recent results from several well-studied sites. Biomass accumulation, growth rates and productivity have been documented for spring blooms of bottom interstitial and sub-ice assemblages. On an areal basis biomass accumulation in bottom ice assemblages can be comparable with planktonic systems. At low ambient temperatures and irradiances average specific growth rates (≤ 0.25 d⁻¹) and production rates (≤ 1.0 mg C mg Chl⁻¹ h⁻¹) for ice algae are low. Current methods of measuring productivity are compared. Results are consistently low but variable with little systematic difference among them. At present, apparent differences in productivity between bottom ice assemblages in the Arctic and Antarctic, or among different antarctic assemblages, are so confounded by methodological and other sources of variability that no firm differences can be detected.     

Airline industry deregulation and changes in systematic risk

Deregulation of U.S. Airline Industry may have lowered systematic risk because pricing freedom and route flexibility improved airline management reaction to various economic conditions. Reduced systematic risk offers lower cost of equity capital for the industry as a whole as well as for individual carriers. Previous research has had mixed results in identifying a relationship between deregulation and airline industry cost of capital. This study plots airline industry Beta coefficients across the years 1963 to 1987 and clears up previously conflicting research findings. Beta coefficients had been falling since the fuel crisis of 1974 and continued to fall through 1980. Fluctuations since deregulation have been relatively minor and systematic risk has leveled off at a significantly lower value than before deregulation. Studies which concentrate on the fluctuation in Beta since 1978 are dependent on the exact time period of analysis, and their conclusions that deregulation raised or lowered systematic risk are likewise suspect. A broader view of systematic risk changes in the deregulatory era shows airline Betas peaking from 1971 to 1973 and a gradual decrease as deregulation was being discussed, implemented, and legally mandated. This gradual decline from 1974 to 1980 may be attributed to such factors as fuel prices, interest rates, general inflation as well as deregulation. In any case systematic risk of the U.S. Airline industry has been lower since deregulation than in decades before.     

Creative nodes,logistical networks,and the future of the metropolis

A paradigmatic shift away from traditional quantitative methods towards qualitative dynamic analysis is proposed in order to fully comprehend the future of the metropolis. Over the last millennium the great structural changes of production, location, trade, culture and institutions have most likely been triggered by slow but steady changes to those logistical networks which are responsible for the movement of key factors of production. Nonlinear dynamic methods such as catastrophe theory and synergetics can help to provide the necessary analytical insights. Creativity and accessibility to logistical networks are portrayed as important catalysts of qualitative change. requests for offprints     

俄罗斯铁路解决机车不足的问题

至2010年前俄罗斯将淘汰大部分旧机车,但据估计其货运量到2010年将增加26%,客运量增加6%～7%.为满足运输量增长的要求,俄罗斯铁路需要约6 800台电力机车和6 500台内燃机车.文章介绍了俄罗斯制定的机车战略决策.