Gateway diversity and competition in international air transportation

Because of the existence of limited designation gateways, i.e., gateways for international air travel where entry by U.S. flag carriers is limited (in many cases to only one carrier), the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has announced a policy of gateway competition. This policy seeks to maximize inter-gateway competition as a goal of the carrier selection process. The paper reviews the rationale and history of this policy and the economic principles of gateway competition. After addressing exceptions where gateway competition does not enhance competitive goals, the issue of how to enforce the credibility of the bidding process in route awards is addressed. The paper concludes by identifying circumstances where competitive objectives are not advanced through application of the principle gateway competition.     

Evaluating employer programs encouraging the use of alternate transportation modes: Two studies

Since 1976, major Denver metropolitan area firms have been required to encourage employees to use mass transit, carpooling, bicycling, and other alternate transportation modes to commute to work. The encouragement programs of 36 firms were clearly associated with greater use of alternate transportation modes, with the portion of variance in alternate transportation use explained by differences in employer programs of approximately 15%. The effects of the programs on deterring alternate mode users from returning to solo driving are consistently weaker than their effects on persuading drivers to try alternate transportation modes initially. Recommendations for the conduct of alternate transportation encouragement programs are made, based on these and other results. In addition, two recommendations are made concerning the evaluation of encouragement programs: that aggregate percentage change in alternate transportation use should not be used as the sole measure of success, and that environmental variables such as the availability of and pressure for use of alternate transportation modes should be measured and controlled.     

Distributed algorithm for empty vehicles management in personal rapid transit (PRT) network

In this paper, an original heuristic algorithm of empty vehicles management in personal rapid transit network is presented. The algorithm is used for the delivery of empty vehicles for waiting passengers, for balancing the distribution of empty vehicles within the network, and for providing an empty space for vehicles approaching a station. Each of these tasks involves a decision on the trip that has to be done by a selected empty vehicle from its actual location to some determined destination. The decisions are based on a multi‐parameter function involving a set of factors and thresholds. An important feature of the algorithm is that it does not use any central database of passenger input (demand) and locations of free vehicles. Instead, it is based on the local exchange of data between stations: on their states and on the vehicles they expect. Therefore, it seems well‐tailored for a distributed implementation. The algorithm is uniform, meaning that the same basic procedure is used for multiple tasks using a task‐specific set of parameters. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of airline operating strategies under stochastic demand

Variability in the demand for air travel is studied with respect to stochastic and time varying components which affect the distribution of passengers who will want to travel on a particular day. The problem is then cast as one of optimizing the total capacity offered in a given time period using operating net revenues as the objective. The distribution of demand is assumed to be normal, and passengers lost on those days when demand is high are assumed to travel on another airline or a different mode. An airline must therefore balance the costs of increased capacity against the benefits of carrying more people. Tradeoffs are studied parametrically, with particular emphasis on the effect the variance of the distribution of demand has on different relationships. Also shown is a simple procedure for estimating actual market mean and variance given the mean and variance of the number of passengers actually flown, which has a truncated distribution.     

Seamen, drink and social structure

Drinking among seafarers is an age-old and insufficiently studied problem. This paper is not concerned with alcoholism but with normal social drinking, its effects on suicide and accident rates, and its considerable value as an integrating factor in shipboard life. The author distinguishes sharply between sea-drinking and port-drinking and summarizes the research that relates personality traits, particularly dependence, to the use and abuse of alcohol.     

Transportation benefits from containerized cargo movements on the Trinity River, Texas

The future of waterborne commerce on the Trinity River, Texas, depends on the extent to which the waterborne transport system constitutes a definite cost saving over alternate transportation modes. This paper outlines the results of a study conducted in the area, the purpose of which was to establish potential transportation savings from containerized commodity movements on the Trinity River.     

Research on the Cause and Influential Factors of Tunnel Lining Cracking of Side Wall in Seasonally-frozen RegionsEI北大核心

Research purposes: In recent years, tunnel diseases like lining cracking and water leaking during spring thawing period, caused by frost heaving of surrounding rock, have occasionally occurred in high-latitude seasonally-frozen regions of northwest China and northeast China, which has seriously affected the tunnel structure and operation safety. Taking several railway tunnels in northwest China as an example, this paper investigates the cause and main influencing factors of longitudinal cracking of side wall in winter in seasonal frozen soil area by means of field test, laboratory experiment and numerical simulation. Research conclusions:(1) When the water content of surrounding rock of tunnel built in strongly-weathered sandstone is 12.3% and the frozen depth of surrounding rock is up to 60 cm, the maximum tensile stress of side walls is 2.28 MPa, which is larger than the ultimate tensile strength of C30 concrete, then the horizontal lining cracking will appear on side walls under the effect of continuous negative temperature in winter. If the lining bears part of the surrounding rock load, the longitudinal cracking degree of the side wall will increase. (2) Under the effect of frost heaving loads, the cracking of tunnel lining has its own characteristics of symmetry, seasonality and accumulation, etc. The cracks appear in winter and distribute in the middle of side walls. As the temperature is rising, the crack begins to shrink. (3) The frozen circle thickness and water content of surrounding rock should be used as main indicators during the process of calculation of frost heaving loads of surrounding rock in seasonally-frozen regions. (4) The research results can be used for reference in tunnel design, operation and maintenance in seasonal frozen soil area. © 2018, Editorial Department of Journal of Railway Engineering Society. All right reserved.     

EXPRESSION OF PRE S ROTEIN OF HBV AS A ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE FUSION PROTEINS IN NIH 3T3 CELLS

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