From piggyback to double-stack intermodalism

Intermodal transportation has been growing at a fast pace thanks to the development of double-stack trains, deregulation of US domestic transportation and intensified competition in the liner trade. Its growth has been supported by import traffic in the recent past but will have to rely much more on domestic cargo in the future. Effective marketing rather than hardware development will pose the primary challenge to intermodal transportation. To meet this challenge, rail, highway and ocean carriers will have to rethink their business philosophy and realign themselves for more efficient provision of intermodal services. The traditional division between international and domestic intermodal operation has become obsolete.     

The selection of fishing vessel fleet operations using a multiple criteria optimization method

The methodology adopted in the design of small fishing vessels is usually concerned only with the vessel's technical characteristics and the procedures utilized may not include consideration of the relevant fishing environment. This paper describes an approach which incorporates operational, economic and technical considerations in a compressive manner. The efficiency of using multicriteria decision making methods in design is investigated with special reference to small vessels. A model is presented which takes into account various operational and fish resource factors. This allows the inclusion of a number of potentially conflicting requirements and goals within the design process. The resulting analysis identifies the optimum fleet mix for three types of fishing vessels for use in a fishing environment of a developing country.     

EXPRESSION CLONING OF A PROTECTIVE LEISHMANIA ANTIGEN

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Long-memory characteristics of urban roadside air quality

Carbon monoxide is a major contributor to air pollution in urban cities, particularly at the roadside. Hourly, monthly and seasonal mean carbon monoxide concentration data are collected from a roadside air monitoring station in Hong Kong over 7-years. The station is a few metres from a major intersection surrounded by tall buildings. In particular, hourly patterns of concentrations on different days of the week are investigated. The data show that hourly carbon monoxide concentrations resemble the traffic pattern of the area and tend to be lower in the summer. Using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models shows that the daily traffic cycle strongly influences concentrations. Further, it is found that urban roadside carbon monoxide monitoring data exhibits a long-memory process, suggesting that a model incorporating long memory and seasonality effects is needed simulate urban roadside air quality.     

Dynamic analysis of energy storage unit of the hydraulic hybrid vehicle

A new configuration of hydraulic hybrid vehicle (HHV) was presented, which mainly consists of an engine, high-pressure accumulator, lower-pressure reservoir and hydraulic transformer (HT) connected to common pressure rail (CPR), and the working principle of hydraulic hybrid vehicle has been described to extend its energy-regenerated potential. Moreover, the mathematical models of the instantaneous pressure ratio of HT and the characteristic parameters of parallel and series accumulator (i.e. effective volume, specific energy, and charge-discharge efficiency) based on lumped parameters method were built, respectively. The simulation and experimental tests of dynamic characteristics of HT and accumulator were done, the result shows that the theoretical analysis was the same as the experimental results by comparing them in the curve trend, and the series accumulator was much superior to parallel accumulator in terms of pulsation damping of hydraulic transformer, that is the simulation results reasonably and appropriately.     

Error quantification of a high resolution coupled hydrodynamic-ecosystem coastal-ocean model: Part3, validation with Continuous Plankton Recorder data

Data collected during the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey has been used to validate a three-dimensional hydrodynamic ecosystem model simulation of the North-west European Shelf for the years 1988–89. The CPR time series is unique to the North Atlantic region as a validation tool. Data were extracted from the model to correspond with those collected by the CPR survey, and both the model and survey plankton data were standardised to allow the comparison of model biomass with survey counts. Simple linear regression and absolute error maps provide a qualitative evaluation of spatio-temporal model performance of simulated diatoms, flagellates, total phytoplankton and omnivorous mesozooplankton. Comparisons of z-scores indicate that the model reproduces the main pelagic seasonal features, and there is good correlation between magnitudes of these features with respect to standard deviations from a long-term mean. The model is replicating up to 62% of the mesozooplankton seasonality across the domain, with variable results for the phytoplankton. There are, however, differences in the timing of patterns in plankton seasonality. The validation exercise has highlighted that the spring diatom bloom in the model is too early, suggesting the need to reparameterise the response of phytoplankton to changing light levels in the model. Errors in the north and west of the domain imply that model turbulence and vertical density structure need to be improved to more accurately capture plankton dynamics.     

Marine Protected Area Management Effectiveness: Progress and Lessons in the Philippines

Quantifying progress in management of marine protected areas (MPAs) is crucial to marine conservation and fisheries management in the Philippines. This study compiles data on the status, occurrence, and management gaps of MPAs through coordination with multiple organizations supporting and guiding MPAs in the Philippines. MPA management effectiveness was measured using a MPA Rating System. Since 2002 the modal MPA rating levels increased from level 1 (initiated) to level 4 (sustained) in 2008/9. This upward trend is attributed to factors that promoted both the establishment and improved management of MPAs. Analysis indicated that: (1) most MPAs struggle with budgetary constraints or lack of sustainable financing and (2) overall the MPAs are being maintained and progressing with notable improvement in management despite a range of difficulties encountered during the implementation process. For MPAs in the Visayan Region for which biophysical data were available, the MPA Rating System was used to assess the effectiveness of local government capacity building on MPA coral reef health. Our results suggest that MPAs with higher ratings are likely to have better reef health conditions.     

Wall-wetting model based method for air-fuel ratio transient control in gasoline engines with dual injection system

Modern gasoline engines with dual injection system improve combustion efficiency by using the two injection commands simultaneously. Due to the different dynamics in the two injection paths, the transient air-fuel ratio (A/F) performance when the injection authority is changed remarkably affects the emission performance of the engine system. For this kind of engines, this paper proposes a model-based design approach that gives a dynamic feedforward compensation for achieving good transient A/F performance. Actually, this work centers on discussing the mean-value model parameters for characterizing the wall-wetting phenomenon when the port injection authority is changed under different engine operation conditions. Moreover, from the view of practice, taking into account the event-based physics of the engine system, significant calibration for the model parameters that are employed for achieving the feedforward compensation is investigated experimentally. Finally, experimental validation results demonstrate the improvement of the transient A/F performance by using the control scheme.     

Vibration path analysis and optimal design of the suspension for brake judder reduction

Brake judder is abnormal vibration, which is mainly generated by uneven contact between the brake disc and pad. The abnormal vibration from BTV (Brake Torque Variation) is transferred to the suspension and the steering system during braking. In this paper, judder simulation is carried out using a multi-body dynamic analysis program to analyze the relationship between judder and the transfer mechanism, which consists of the suspension and the steering system. In order to verify the analytical model, test results are compared with the simulation results. A sensitivity analysis is also carried out. In addition, an optimization method is presented for judder reduction, using the design of experiments.     

六边形钢丝网状加筋拉拔特性试验研究

以六边形钢丝网作为加筋材料,在室内模拟拉拔试验箱中进行了大型拉拔试验。得出了在不同的法向应力条件下六边形钢丝网的拉拔强度、破坏模式以及不同部位位移变化规律。